


Mecha Tempest

by Vxnatori



Series: The Legend of the Borderlands [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bounty Hunter Korra, F/F, Gen, Siren Asami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-03-14 23:00:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 73,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3428687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vxnatori/pseuds/Vxnatori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I guess you could call it a borderlands au crossover thing.</p><p>Korra, a seasoned bounty hunter ends up in over her head after meeting a hot mechanic in Three Horns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wavy Black Haired Chick

**Author's Note:**

> I figured this would probably be a good and mostly untouched realm of korrasami so I decided to go for it. Now I may be a bit rusty on my borderlands but it's one of my favorite game franchises and I thought korra and Asami could fit nicely. Hope you like

She had arrived at the The Happy Pig Motel bounty board some time ago but of course, like everything else on Pandora, it was broken. Some wavy black haired chick was fixing it so Korra had decided to kick her feet up on the dash of her 'borrowed' light runner and wait.

The cool steel of her harnessed side arm pressed against her back as she lounged in the incredibly spacious drivers seat. The air in the valley was brisk. Likely a southern wind blowing off the ice shelf since its usually much warmer here.

"Son of a _biiiiiiitch_!" She groaned as she obnoxiously stretched her arms. Her eyes snapped towards the bounty boards mechanic  forgetting that she wasn't the only one in the immediate area The chick over at the bounty board peered up at her with an annoyed glare and then returned to her work.

"Sorry." Korra shouted just as loudly. She sighed and reached in a compartment for a rag to clean the blood off her favorite Maliwan sub machine gun that he had buckled it into the passengers seat because it was that special. She pulled it free and removed the rotary clip from the side. She was pretty sure this was the shock gun. Or the cryo gun. Shit, they're both blue. She should know right? Its her favorite gun.

 _Only one way to find out_ , she thought and snapped the clip back on and wound it up. She pulled her feet from the dash and leaned over the slightly bent bar encasing the windshield, aiming her gun as if she had a rifle. She peeked through the sights lining up a shot right at an unsuspecting bullymongs head. It seemed like it was chasing its own... paw. Her finger rested on the trigger, waiting for just the right time to shoot. It had begun to chew on its paw now. _Just get a bit more still and..._

She vaulted over the windshield and bounced off the hood, gun in hand, as she broke into a wild sprint. Another three bullymongs appeared from around a rock. She picked up her pace to try to take the creatures just arriving by surprise. As soon as she was close enough, she shouldered her weapon and sprayed bullets that showered over the bullymong gnawing on his on bloodied paw. Splashes of luminous green mixed with red covered it as it slowly dissolved away.

"Corrosive?" Korra paused and looked at her gun. "Why the fuck are there frozen lightning bolts on it?" The primal roaring of the other two bullymongs pulled her from her thoughts.

One charged at her and she promply pushed it away with a kick to the mouth before loading it full of green burning ooze. She turned to the others, both already had rocks in their huge furry hands and both hurled them right at Korra. She ducked one and side stepped the other as she sprayed down one of the furry beasts. The other backpedaled and growled with gritted fangs. Korra growled back showing just as much of her own teeth.

She pulled her gun strap over her shoulder and stood unarmed, ready for the bullymong to charge and it did. Snarling and drooling one knuckled paw drag after another. Korra dug in, lowering herself as the frantic animal approached, then stood straight up with a blank expression. She reached for her side arm in her harness and aimed right for the creatures gruesome maw.

"Boom." she grinned as she pulled the trigger. A flaming bullet made impact and flew straight through the bullymongs skull as it crumpled to the ground.

"What the hell? This was supposed to be explosive!" Korra whined as she shoved her sidearm back into its holster. "Now I have to clean off all this damn fur..." She trudged her way back down the hill, glancing over at the motel's bounty board, still with wavy haired mechanic chick attached. Korra brushed off the bullymong fur she was covered in and decided to talk to the girl. Maybe by some chance she was pretty. Although that's rare on Pandora.

Korra quickend her pace to a half jog over to the bounty board. The mechanic was closing a hatch on the side of the board as it flickered to life. She started placing her things back into a big red bag.

"Finally done?" Korra asked with a suave tone. She glared up at Korra again. _My damn, she is pretty. And those eyes,_ Korra almost said.

"Yeah," she grunted as she picked up her things. Korra took the opportunity to look her over. She had on some tight one sleeved burgundy shirt and some khaki riding pants she had tucked into some black strappy boots.

"Fine job there beautiful." Korra smirked her heart melting crooked smirk with her blue eyes focused right on her jade ones. "I'm Korra by the way."

"I'm straight." she grumbled as she glared again with her brow a bit lower than last time.

"No one's straight on Pandora, sweetheart." Korra chuckled. "What brings a gorgeous young lady like you to these parts?"

"Absolutely nothing now that this bounty board is fixed." she sighed as she started to walk towards the motel's catch-a-ride.

"Hey, come on! We can't at least be pals?" Korra pleaded as she followed.

"I don't throw in with bandits." the mechanic hissed as she booted up the car selection console.

Korra's eyes flew open. "Bandit?! I'm no bandit. I'm a bounty hunter! I hunt bandits more often than not. You know, hence why I'm at this bounty board."

"You just killed a group of bullymong for no reason." the mechanics voice was thick with annoyance.

"I had a reason! I was trying to clean my gun because it was covered in _bandit_  blood and I forgot it which element it was so I went to test it out." Korra retorted with folded arms.

"On animals that hadn't done anything to you." the mechanic turned and mimiced Korra's folded arms.

"Bullymongs are hardly innocent creatures. One was chewing its own paw off! The others threw rocks at me!" Korra argued.

"You covered most of them in acid!"

"Well if the others had stayed out of it they wouldn't have been killed too! It was self-defense."

"I can't even believe I'm entertaining this." the mechanic continued dialing up her car which materialized in a wash of white and bits of blue light.

"Because I'm not a bandit." Korra huffed and peered over the mechanics shoulder at the absence of a car but a small red bike...thing. "What the hell is that?"

"Nothing." She said as she threw her bag into a metal basket on the back of her bike.

"I'm an elementalist." Korra said again.

"Sure." the mechanic said as he threw her leg over her bike.

"Come on, hear me out." Korra scrambled in front of her bike holding the center of the handlebar. "I know I seem like an idiot. But I'm not always an idiot. Give me a chance. At least your name?" Korra's eyes were innocent, apologetic. No look a bandit could really muster up.

The mechanic sighed and revved her bike. Korra could feel it rumbling under her hand and placed the other down to hold the bike still, silently hoping that she was still registered for Hyperions New-U system.

The mechanic revved again and Korra was pushed back a bit but still held onto the bike.

"What the hell?" Korra shouted.

"I'm Asami."

"What the hell,  _Asami_?" Korra shouted again.

"You're an asshole but you're brave. And you don't back down." Asami replied. "Not exactly bandit-like traits."

"I told you I'm not a bandit." Korra smirked.

"Look me up in Sanctuary when you can." Asami finally cracked what may have been a smile.

Korra returned it with a full grin of her own. "I'll do that." Korra nodded as she stepped away from Asami's bike.

"You are kinda cute, too." Asami winked before speeding off. Korra watched as she raced off. Grateful that she did so she wouldn't see the blush creeping across her face. A dumb grin crossed her lips.

"I knew you weren't straight!" She shouted after Asami. She turned back to the bounty board and read over what was posted. Routinely she accepted all of the missions. Except this one with a time limit because fuck that right now. It probably isn't important anyway.

She looked over her objectives and organized them by location. She double checked the bounty board again to make sure she got everything and saw another mission pop up. It wasn't titled like the others but she took it since she hadn't seen a time limit.

She opened it up on her map and saw that it was to be completed in Sanctuary. She opened the mission to read the objectives.

"Meet Asami in Sanctuary," the bounty hunter read aloud with another dumb grin. She closed her map and headed back toward her runner as she felt a pang against her sheilds. She turned and saw some spitter skags howling as they crawled out of a hole in the ground. Korra pulled her gun from over her shouldee and started towards the beasts. Then quickly paused peering in the direction Asami left to be sure she wasn't within watching distance of what was sure to be very bandit-like behavior. Korra smirked evilly, Asami was long gone.


	2. Too Easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having too much fun writing this I know I'm updating quickly but don't expect them to update this quick I just happen to have a lot of free time right now but uh here my shamless tumblr plug
> 
> @vxnatori

Korra stuffed some money into a vending machine as sub machine gun and pistol rounds fell out. She had just finished up everything that needed to be done in the Valley and had scored a decent amount of money from the jobs and even a few guns but none she preferred. They were dropped one by one in the bin on the side of the machine for some coin.

She looked around for a gun vending machine but didn't see one. It's pretty rare to find them outside of towns anyways. Korra opened up her map again to check her mission objectives. Obviously trying to ignore that she selected her active mission to meet with Asami.

Korra pocketed her money and stretched her bare, toned arms. Her peripheral vision caught sight of one of the mirrors on her light runner. She smile when she found a good enough position to see as much of her body as she could and flexed a few times into it. Her mouth curled into her signature crooked smile, checking to make sure it was still effective since it seemed to hold no weight to Asami.

"I'm so frickin' adorable." Korra grinned mischeiviously. She blew herself a quick smooch before climbing into the runner. _Maybe I should paint this thing since it was stolen from some big bad bandit dude_ , Korra thought as she kicked her feet up on the dash again. _I wonder if I can get Asami to get me on of those silly little bikes.... Asami. ...Asaaaami._

"Asaaaaaaaaaami." She grinned. "Her name is so fucking gorgeous-- well she's fucking gorgeous. And those green eyes? Those green _fucking_... eyes?" Korra threw her hands over her face, sighing dramatically. She dropped her feet from the dash and started the runner.

"Just gotta take care of the divide and I'm in Sanctuary."

* * *

 

She came to a skidding stop in front of the huge gates that kept all the wildlife and immediate bandit threat out of the Crimson Raiders base. Asami buzzed the intercom outside the gate and knocked an elaborate yet irritatingly rhythmic knock against the top of it. She paused, then started again.

"Goddammit! Alright!" a voice roared through the intercom. "Moxxi, your weird ass hot friend i--" the voice trailed as the channel closed.

Asami smiled as she got back on her bike and rode through as Sanctuary's gate slid open. She waved at the guard who operated the gate. He folded his arms impatiently and returned to his seat by the intercom.

Her mind wondered back to her newest hired hand. She wasn't sure what kind of person Korra was exactly. Would she be here right after she accepted the quest? Is she one of those people that'll make you wait? And of course, if she really is a bandit and isn't even registered to use a bounty board. Well she was cute and very determined so she could be pretty useful to her cause either way. Asami coasted into Scooter's garage and parked next to the other vehicles.

"Why hello there A-sami." a southern drawl greeted.

Asami's eyes met probably the dirtiest man on Pandora and probably the only one not covered in blood on a regular basis. His... green(?) hat and overalls were always covered in filth and muck. Hygeine wasn't too big for him, apparently. Which is surprising due to who his mother is.

"Hi Scooter," Asami replied, stepping gracefully off her bike.

"Always a pleasure to see you my fair dam-sel. I assume you are here to gain the audience of my dear maternal unit?" Scooter's voice was as uppity as he could get it, which with his hillbilly accent was damn near impossible to make out.

Asami paused to try to place context of what she understood him say to figure out exactly what he actually said. "...Yeah, I'm here to see your mother-- Look do we have to do this every time I come here?"

"But mademoiselle, I did a great deal of learning to be able to say these words to you." Scooter quickly strode over to Asami and her bike, her eyes following as Scooter placed an oil covered hand over what used to be a clean seat.

"Scooter..." Asami pinched the cleanest part of his arm to lift away from her bike. "I'm not really into guys."

"But I am a thoroughbred Hodunk. Finest mechanic in these parts. We have so much in common, A-sami."

Green eyes were halfed by a folded brow, lowered in annoyance. "No." she said quickly as she started back out of the garage.

"A-sami! Love me please!" Scooter cried.

"Shut up, Scooter." Asami growled as she turned the corner.

Scooter sighed, well really whined. "...'Kay."

Asami let out a heavy such as she ran her fingers through her hair and tossed loose locks over her shoulder. She started up the stairs to Moxxi's bar, hoping for a bit more peace.

Sanctuary is one of the more peaceful cities on this dustrap planet. It wasn't as pristine as she was used to but it does well. The buildings look much less run down than they do anywhere else. Trash was minimal and since security is so tight there aren't many jerks around. Just the Crimson Raiders. The people here mostly keep to themselves except for maybe a few instances of insanity.

Moxxi's bar was almost the opposite. Drunkards thrive at night and basically slept there during the day. Usually there aren't many people there other than people looking for work from Moxxi. Well not many who aren't unconscious from either a bar fight or too much to drink.

She smiled at the one ex-Crimson Lanceman that always stood by Moxxi's bar but never came in. She likes how he was the only guy that never mindlessly flirted with her. He'd always just nod.

Asami stepped over a couple of bodies as she entered the dimly lit bar. Bassy music pounded but it wasn't loud. It was something like Moxxi's trademark when it comes to these places. Pounding ambient strip club music.

Purple and pink lights tinted the bar, honestly if it weren't for the lighting this place would probably look like a diner with a random piano and a stripper pole. She walked the long aisle lined with booths on either side. Some with sleeping patrons some without. There was this one guy who'd just sit motionless with his eyes half open, but that counted as sleeping.

"Well if it isn't my favorite mechanic." Moxxi's sultry voice called. She a had a new bodysuit just as revealing as the last one except this one was purple and showed hella cleavage. Of course her hair was covered with her signature top hat and face drowned up makeup.

Asami hadn't looked up to fully greet her yet. She was still scanning the floor for any bullshit she might step on or in. You never know with Moxxi.

"What about your kids?" Asami asked as she stepped around some dark fluid on the floor.

"Eh, it's too late to take it back." Moxxi rested a hand on her hip and placed a glass of water on a coaster in front of the stool Asami headed for.

Asami climbed on the stool and took a long sip of the water. "How is it that you, of all people, are the only one with clean drinking water on his god forsaken planet?"

"Connections, sugar. That and you're the only one who drinks it." Moxxi grinned, topping off Asami's now half full glass. "I take it that since you're back so soon you've found someone?"

"Yeah, I did." Asami said taking a smaller sip this time. "Some bounty hunter chick. Dark blue tank top with a white and orange stripe across her midsection. Probably a Maliwan shirt since those are the only guns she uses. She's got an upper body harness, brown and splashed with black, probably made from skags. Probably hunted them herself, considering how agressive she is with wildlife."

"She carries a Maliwan Defiler pistol as a side arm and a Venom SMG as her main gun. And she has a Maliwan shield. Her pants were black and covered in buckles. Her boots were made out of the same skags her belt was but the soles had a tint of green to them, likely made from spitter skags. Some white and blue fur poked out of the top of 'em so she likely lined them with bullymong fur."

"That's a lot of information. Do you know her bra and underwear size too?" Moxxi smirked.

"I could probably make an educated guess... She was moving around a lot but they did look like maybe a solid C?" Asami pondered.

"I wasn't serious, Asami." Moxxi chuckled.

"Then why the hell did you ask?" Asami took another drink of water.

"You noticed a lot about her. Is she hot?" Moxxi asked, her sultry tone apparent.

"Not _hot_ , but she is kinda cute. Has a really nice smile and muscles." Asami replied as-a-matter-of-factily.

"Are you blushing?" Moxxi asked. She wasn't but Moxxi can always tell if she's hiding it.

"No, I'm not." Asami deadpanned.

"You're internally blushing." Moxxi prodded. "This is how you acted when I'd ask you about Athena."

Asami's whole face turned red. "You promised you wouldn't talk about her anymore." Asami whined.

Moxxi roared with laugher. Even snorted. May have even stirred some of the alcohol zombies. "Must've been good to get it on with an assassin."

"Moxxi! Stop it!" Asami whispered.

"That's gonna be a great story for your new bounty hunter friend." Moxxi singsonged.

"Moxxi, please," Asami folded her arms on the counter and hid her face in them. She could only pray that Korra had other things to do before coming here.

"What is her name by the way?" Moxxi asked finally calming her hysteria.

"Her name is Korra," Asami mumbled through her arms.

"You think she's better than Athena in bed? That sounds like a lovely name to moan...." Moxxi grinned.

Asami dug her head further into her arms. She had already come to the realization that Moxxi had enough dirt to keep going well until Korra arrived and even after. Moxxi filled her cup back up again. Asami stretched her arm out to hold the glass, waiting for a safe moment to drink when her face isn't on fire from embarrassment.

"Do you plan on telling her you're a siren?" Moxxi still smiled but her tone was much more serious.

"Not unless she needs to know." Asami still spoke through her arms. "I doubt she has connections with 'Handsome' Jack but she is still a bounty hunter. Granted I can hack into her HUD once we start going out together but-- oh goddammit, Moxxi!"

Moxxi's smile widened and the uproarious laughter was back. "You said it not me, sugar."

"You don't laugh at anyone else..." Asami retreated deeper into her arms.

"No one else is going to hack into the cute bounty hunters hud." Moxxi giggled. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'll stop."

"Fuck you, Moxxi." Asami groaned. "...Shit."

"You're lucky that was too easy." Moxxi snorted. "You're a riot, kiddo."

"I'm sure." Asami sipped her water and rested her chin on her hands. "But as I was saying. I have to know I can trust her first."

"No one knows why Jack is hunting sirens but ever since New Haven its just been getting worse." Moxxi pondered.

Asami clamped a hand over her sleeved right arm. "This is probably the only time I'd want Athena around. She worked under Jack and then disappeared. But of course that's what she does. Just wish I had some insight into all this."

"Well, Korra will certainly help you figure it out, sugar." Moxxi placed a hand over Asami's, smiling a bit. Asami rolled her eyes. "Who knows. Maybe you two find Athena and you can watch them fight over you. I'll sell tickets." Moxxi coaxed.

The bar owner looked up, just managing to catch long brown hair fluttering to the ground attached to the muscled body that had just tripped over a few of the people sleeping on the floor. She cursed and tumbled loudly to the ground, falling just behind Asami's stool. Asami never even bothered to look. Moxxi slightly gestered at the clumsy fool beneath her stool. Asami just nodded with her head burrowed back into her arms. Korra peeled herself from the floor and climbed into the stool beside Asami's. Her hair was everywhere but she still managed a cool posture and that crooked smirk.

"Soooo uh, who's Athena?"


	3. So Damn Smooth

Okay, let me get this straight. I'm pretty much gonna be your escort. While you excavate some ancient alien... rocks." Korra raised her eyebrows for emphasis.

"Eridian artifacts which may include Eridium ores." Asami explained.

"So what are the ores for? You're adept at fixing mechanical objects so is it some type of power source or some of type of plating? Jewelry?" Korra shrugged.

"Not exactly sure what it does yet." Asami lied but her poker face was solid. "I've been doing quite a bit of research on it and it can be used to augment weapons into E-tech guns. Which I'm sure you'd heard of as a bounty hunting elementalist."

"Yeah, uh, of course." Korra lied. Her poker face... She didn't have a very good one. She instead poorly tried to hide her flustered expression.

Moxxi chuckled from behind the counter. "You were right, Asami. She is cute."

Korra smirked at Moxxi smugly and flicked her nose. "You clean up pretty well yourself, Miss Moxxi."

Asami had already arrived at Korra being a habitual flirt. Knowing there was a pretty big gap in age between them she was still fawning over Moxxi. Or, more terrifyingly so, Korra didn't care.

"Back to the task at hand." Asami interjected. "There are a few places where we should be able to get some good samples but Hyperion is mining for the stuff too."

"Which is where I come in." Korra smirked again.

"These guys are no gang of bandits or herd of skags and bullymongs. These are fully armed soldiers and a robotic army." Asami said pulling out a shiny black half cylinder tube and placed it on the counter.

Korra eyed it curiously and the air was thick with anticipation of a makeup joke so Asami quickly turned it on and it showed and three dimensional model of a Hyperion shock trooper and a GUN loader robot.

"I'm not very well versed in robotics but this guys armor looks pretty decent. I should be able to make quick work of it, though." Korra mused. Her expression much more focused.

Asami watched as Korra's eyes studied the soldier, pools of cool blue scanning over every detail of the armor she could make out. Every few seconds they'd still, catching an interesting detail and continued to roam. Asami found it interesting to watch someone else dissect something visually. Asami cursed herself for feeling her features soften knowing that Moxxi's ever sexually charged eye was on her. Asami shot a quick glance over at the bar owner who already had her fingers scissoring.

 

"Uh, can we zoom this in?" Korra's voice was distant and thankfully her eyes were still on the hologram.

 

"Of course." Asami answered quickly as she clamped her finger together inside the holographic image and parted them, quickly expanding the size of the soldier. "Just use a finger on it to move it." Asami demonstrated then almost immediately rolled her eyes, immaturely aware of every possible innuendo around Moxxi.

 

"I'm sure she'd be good at that." Moxxi whispered.

 

"Shut up." Asami strained under her voice.

 

"It seems the weakest part of the armor is actually the yellow plating." Korra finally spoke, seemingly unaware of the conversation going on in front of her. "The darker parts between them are elementally retardant material. But it seems from the type of weapons they use, old entry level Tediore rifles repurposed by Hyperion, they don't spend unnecessary money. So the plating underneath may not have the retardant material under it. Of course I doubt that the higher ranked soldiers wear the same stuff so, yeah. Just a hunch though."

 

"All this from someone who didn't even know what element her own gun was?" Asami snide remark was to hide how impressed she was with Korra's knowledge.

 

"The gun was, uh, a generous donation from a good friend of mine..." Korra struggled. "Fuck, look, I pried it from a bandits dead hands. But the idiot painted over it and I hadn't used it yet."

 

"Figured as much." Asami sighed.

 

"Cut her some slack, kiddo." Moxxi chimed. "She knows her shit." Korra beamed from the acknowledgement.

 

"I'm glad." Asami nodded. "So we can discuss terms?"

 

"I'm listening." Korra placed her elbows on the counter and folded her hands together.

 

"You can report straight to me for missions regarding the eridium. I'll be here. Moxxi has work available as well if you want to do that. I could only guess what the nature of her work would be." Asami sighed. "But I'm going to need to get out once a day to check on any leads. We can do it whenever you're available unless any time constraints make our windows smaller. Of course if it's anything personal on my behalf I won't hold you responsible. In exchange you get paid for every lead we investigate. If we find anything I'll pay a bit more. Any objections or concerns?" Asami spoke with a smooth confidence. Very professional. Very businesslike.

 

"A few conditions." Korra began she shifted in her seat. "Any Maliwan equipment we come across I get to keep and I get one of those snazzy bikes like yours."

 

"Sure," Asami said cooly. "Anything else?"

 

"Whenever we make our first discovery, you don’t have to pay me anything extra but, I get to take you to dinner." Korra's face didn't show any of her flirtatious expressions. No smirk, no bedroom eyes. Korra was making a business transaction. "I also want to be let in on your findings on this stuff. If what you say about weapon augmentation is true I'd like to know about it."

 

Asami could tell that Korra was sharper than she gave her credit for. Or at least learned how to better play her cards. Which still made her pretty sharp.

 

"Fine, I agree to your terms." Asami folded her arms and crossed her legs. She couldn't deny Korra information or she'd know there was something to hide. And with the mind she's displaying now she'd likely pry until she found out. And there was the smile, wide and toothy.

 

"So do I," Korra grinned triumphantly. "So it seems we have a deal."

 

Moxxi peered at Asami, somewhat puzzled. Asami shrugged it off. "So it seems." Asami extended a gloved hand to Korra to seal the deal.

 

Korra looked at her hand, back into Asami's eyes, smirked, looked at Moxxi with a mischievous grin as she dug in her cargo pouch that was buckled into her pants.

 

"I'll see you tonight then," Korra placed a glowing purple brick in the mechanics hand. Asami gave Korra the most annoyed glare she could muster.

 

"You had this the whole time?" Asami voice was in monotone.

 

"I'll send you a communication with the time and place." Korra stood and turned to leave, dragging her hand from the counter as she walked off.

 

"How did you even know what this was?" Asami shouted after the bounty hunter.

 

"Don't worry about dressing up. Nowhere around here is that nice anyway." Korra replied as she left the bar, stepping over the sleeping bodies on the floor.

 

"Korra!" Asami started after her.

 

"Don't go after her." Moxxi said, covering Asami's hand on the counter.

 

"And why not?" the mechanic nearly yelled.

 

"That was too damn smooth!" Moxxi nearly shouted with excitement. "She plays a good game. Definitely not a bandit. She knew what she had as soon as you explained it to her. Then when she gave it to you? She even looked at me like, 'Yo, watch this I'm gonna blow her mind and get dinner.'" Moxxi mimicked in a hilariously deep voice.

 

"She definitely is more than what meets the eye." Asami smiled as she stroked her jaw with her index finger.

 

"And what's your plan about explaining all your findings to her?" Moxxi asked. "You said you didn't want her to find out you're a siren until she has to."

 

"And she won't." Asami said clutching the Eridium brick with her sleeved hand. A few sparks of purple electricity crackled and fizzed around her hand. "I'll only tell her about what it has to do with guns and stuff, maybe a few extra things just to keep her satisfied."

 

"You were giving off a truly sinister vibe until you said 'guns and stuff.'" Moxxi signed.

 

Asami rolled her eyes.

 

"So what are you gonna wear to dinner?" Moxxi teased.

 

"It depends on where we go." Asami sighed. "I can't really get a clear enough read on her to figure out where she'd want to go."

 

"You and Athena would have been perfect for each other, my goodness. Stop trying to read the girl." Moxxi grinned.

 

Asami didn’t turn as red as last time but a shade of pink did creep across her cheeks. "Moxxi..." Asami shook her head.

 

"You're really still not over her?" Moxxi sighed.

 

"Can’t we just not talk about that and more about the purple rock making my hand conduct electricity?" Asami sighed.

 

"Fair enough," Moxxi leaned over the counter a bit to get a better look. "How do you feel?"

 

"My arm is warm and feels like its vibrating." Asami focused her analytic gaze a bit harder on her arm and could suddenly see through her sleeve, then her skin, then through muscle.

 

"Your eyes are glowing." Moxxi pointed out nonchalantly.

 

Asami almost peered up at Moxxi and quickly stopped before embarrassing herself again. "I can see through my arm."

 

"Just your arm?" Moxxi asked.

 

Asami let her eyes trail away from the purple glow in her hand and along the bars floor. She could see through the floorboards, and with a bit more focus, to the concrete underneath.

 

Her gaze lifted from the floor to the walls, careful not to linger in case a person in her line of sight. Don’t need to see anyone inside this place any less dressed than they already are. She looked at the wall, concentrated and was able to see through to the circuits coursing through the wall, and then the watchpost by the Sanctuary gate.

 

"I can see through walls and floors." Asami turned to a small mirror that set on a booth across the room and focused her gaze on it. She could see her reflection, how eerie her new glowing purple eyes looked but that’s all she saw. She tried to focus a bit more but still couldn’t penetrate the mirror.

 

“I can’t see through mirrors.” the siren mused, still staring at the mirror.

 

“What about without the Eridium?” Moxxi asked, peeling the glowing stone from Asami’s hand.

 

She observed as Asami’s eyes faded from purple to green, she turned her head slowly, never blinking adding to exactly how creepy this all was. Asami turned back to the wall.

 

“I can still see through the wall… and the floor.” Asami said slowly. tilting her head down to look at her arm. “And through people.”

 

“You can see through yourself. You probably don’t want to see through any of these people.” Moxxi teased.

 

“I don’t.” Asami smiled, still avoiding looking at Moxxi.

 

“Too bad your eyes glow when you do it, I’d tell you to sneak a peek at dinner tonight.” Moxxi chuckled.

 

“Yeah that’d be awesome, Mox. ‘Hey girl lemme look your over with my glowy eyes. Don’t even ask how my eyes are glowing, just know you looking damn fine tonight. Hell yeah.’” Asami sighed.

 

“I mean, go for it. She might like that type of thing.” Moxxi chuckled.

 

“I’m not here to woo her, Moxxi.” Asami retorted finally looking at the barkeep. Her vision slowly dove layer by layer through her clothes. A look of pure horror crossed her face.

 

“Aw geez, Asami.” Moxxi turned around just in time. “Turn it off for crying out loud.”

 

“I don’t know how!” Asami squealed, shielding her eyes with her hands. She opened them again to see if her vision would show on the other side of her hands but it didn’t. “Oh, I just have to blink.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stoic dork Asami is the best.


	4. Where I Come In

Asami held her hand in her hand as she leaned against a trash can at the Overlook Catch-a-Ride. Of course the coordinates lead to The Holy Spirits right outside the pretty much quarantined town.

The setting sun reflected off the steampunk copper goggles she wore on her head so that if something were to happen where her siren powers just activate or something, she could just throw on the goggles?

Asami sighed, enjoying the brief moment to herself. Shortly after, almost on cue,out walked a guy and a girl holding each other up as they walked out of the bar. Asami swore she could smell the alcohol from where she stood.

"'Ey 'dere sweet thing." they both slurred nearly simultaneously.

"I'm asexual." Asami shouted to them.

"You look a-very-sexual." the girl sputtered swaying to keep her balance next to her, um, friend?

"Mmmhmm," he slurred. He lazily lifted his hand and tried to smile.

"I'm not sexually attracted to either of you," Asami shouted again. She watched as they both swayed back and forth... in place. She assumed they thought they were walking up to her.

"C'mon sweet pie.... Sweetie pea... Glucose..." the drunk lady slurred.

"I have a boyfriend?" Asami added hoping something she said would make them leave.

"Mmmmmmmm," the guy mumbled.

"...How about a girlfriend?" Asami was just saying things to elicit conversation at this point. Also waiting to see when they realize they aren't walking towards her.

"You rang?" Korra appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She stood next to Asami and folded her arms, watching the pair waddle in place at her. "Are they, um, attempting to bother you?"

"I think so." Asami sighed, ignoring the bounty hunters comment.

"Should I take care of it, or...?" Korra tilted her head at the two who were still talking but not very loudly anymore.

"I hired you as an escort but I can still handle myself." the mechanic ran her fingers through her hair and then flipped it over her shoulder.

"Aw, you're flirting with me." Korra teased, smiling at Asami and then turning back to the alcohol noodles.

"I'm not." Asami scoffed.

"Okay." Korra answered simply.

"So what are your plans for getting in there?" The green eyed girl shifted, crossing a leg in front of the other.

"I don't have any." Korra said plainly, watching the Zafords now angrily wave back and forth with their gaze focused more on Korra. "I think they just noticed me."

"Then how are we gonna do this dinner?" Asami asked flatly.

"Not in there. I may have bad blood with the Zafords" Korra said with a raised brow.

"You aren't sure?" Asami asked, turning her head over at Korra. "Aw, you're short."

Korra shot her a quick disapproving glance and began to walk away. "No, I'm not sure. Usually if you aren't in good graces you're very likely to be in bad ones." Korra looked behind her gesturing for Asami to follow. “And I’m not short, you’re just huge.”

"I'm sure you know that there isn't much up here but stalkers and threshers right?" the sirens voice was filled with unease.

"Up there, yeah." Korra pointed up the hill along the road that wound into a tunnel. "There's also a Hyperion base thing up there too. And skags. But that's not where we're going."

Korra leaned her arm over and reached for it with the other, stretching her arms high over her head. Asami watched her back muscles flex and contour at her movements through her Maliwan tanktop. Every sculpted muscle moved as she lowered her arms, crossed them, and stretched again.

"It's good that you keep in such good shape." Asami said, sliding her goggles over her eyes.

Korra switched arms, flexing the other side of her back. "Like what you see?"

"Sure," Asami's tone was distant and uninterested but her eyes were fixed right between Korra's shoulder blades. This time she could feel her eyes warm with the glow. The inside of her goggles reflected the light from her eyes as her vision penetrated Korra's outside layer of clothing. Under those were wraps that acted as a bra and some knee-length compression shorts.

Asami’s glowing gaze fell to Korra’s bare lower back. Her skin looked soft, which is hardly believable for a bounty hunter from a place like this.

 _What the fuck am I doing_? Asami thought, looking away from Korra’s back. _I mean, yeah, she’s cute as hell but… there are other things to worry about. ….Those muscles might push her to borderline hot, though. I wonder what she looks like with her hair down…._

Asami blinked a few times for good measure and pulled her goggles back on top of her head. She looked back at Korra who was staring at her with her hand against a cliff wall.

“You alright?” Korra asked, her piercing blue eyes meeting her employers’.

“Yup, just kinda spaced out for a second.”

“Mmkay…,” Korra replied slowly. “Well, uh, we’re headed up here. There’s this pretty cool picnic spot. With a view. Hopefully you can climb…?”

“Yeah, no problem.” the mechanic sighed, although she was glad she didn’t ‘kinda’ dress up like she wanted. The fact that she even considered it still pissed her off.

Korra grabbed onto a pointed rock that stuck out just enough for her to grab, scraped her boot against the wall to find a foothold, and pulled herself up. Asami followed, watching where Korra grabbed and pulled and gave her best effort to follow. Korra could climb pretty damn fast but she had to admit, she was enjoying the view.

“Where are you from that you know how to climb like this?” Asami grunted as he scaled the mountain, trying to distract herself from letting her eyes wander.

“Do I have to be from a certain place to know how to climb?” the bounty hunter replied, grasping a grassy ledge. She pulled herself up effortlessly and poked her head over, reaching a hand out for Asami.

A pale hand reached up and grabbed onto a bronzed wrist as Korra helped her over the ledge. There was a red tent, and a picnic basket. Simple. The ledge was surprising grassy to be to the side of a mountain. Asami stood and brushed herself off. She turned to look for the view and understood why Korra wanted to come here. The Highland mountain ranges were beautiful against the orange sky. Overlook didn’t seem like the quarantined sick hole that it actually was from here.

The falls to the west splashed mist as the stalkers.... stalked about, going in and out of their camouflage. The crazy shit that happens on this planet makes you forget that it actually is a pretty okay looking place.

“Whatcha think? Impressive, right?” Korra chirped as she sat next to the picnic basket. She pulled out a pair of peanut butter sandwiches wrapped in plastic wrap and two apple juice boxes. “You’re not allergic to nuts, right?”

Asami cursed under her breath at the unspeakable thoughts that crossed her mind due to being around Moxxi.

“Nah,” she replied cooly, turning from the view to come sit down. She folded her legs and pulled the juice box beside her. She placed the sandwich over her crossed calves, undoing its surprisingly neat wrapping.

“This wasn’t exactly my idea of dinner.” Asami admitted as she took a bite of the sandwich.

“Of course not,” Korra replied, pulling her knees to her chest. She left her sandwich where she pulled it out. The juice box was placed to balance on her knee.

“So is this supposed to be, like, a date or something?” the mechanics mouth was full of bread and peanut butter. She didn’t even bother to finish chewing before speaking.

“No, not really. You don’t have to do odd, gross stuff to try to seem less attractive, either.” the Maliwan enthusiast leaned back, resting the back of her head in her palms. “I just have some questions I wanted to ask. I could tell Moxxi was making you uncomfortable before.”

“So you assumed I’d be more comfortable alone, with my new hired hand, who won’t stop flirting with me going out to dinner in the wilds of the Highlands, than with a good friend of mine who was making embarrassing jokes?”

“No, but I could tell she was poking holes in your demeanor. It was making it hard for you to be a hardass.” Korra chuckled. “And you didn’t make any remarks about your ever-changing sexual orientation.”

Asami swallowed, taking a sip for her juice box to moisten her mouth. “Ha, ha,” she mocked. “I’m only a ‘hardass’ so people take me seriously. I’m apparently too gorgeous for that.”

“Did this Athena person take you serio--”

“We will not speak about that.” the mechanic answered quickly and directly, shooting an icy glare at her. Korra stared wide eyed and eventually began laughing.

“Oooookay…,” the bounty hunter threw her head back in the grass, covering her stomach with her hands as she gasped for air. “Clearly that’s a touchy subject. Anything I should know about what went wrong with that so I don’t end up on your bad side?”

“Hopefully you won’t be in a position to do what she did.” the sirens brow lowered as she looked back over the mountain ranges.

Korra rolled over on her side, resting her face on her arm bent behind her head. She took a moment to glance at her employer. “So do I. Sounds like some tragic hero stuff.”

“You could call it that.”

“I’ll change the subject.”

“Thanks.”

“Where are you from that you know how to fix stuff like you do?” the hired gun mimicked. Recalling Asami’s climbing question.

“Do I have to be from a certain place to know how to fix things?” Asami smirked a bit as she answered. Her eyes wandered back to the waterfall. “I’ll tell you if you tell me where you’re from.”

“Not much to tell honestly. I’m from this little ‘village’ way in the south. Ostwick” Korra groaned. “It was more like a snow mound dug hollow with a few families living in it. It was icy, snowy, cliffed bullshit. My dad inherited chief from my grandfather who was eaten by a gigantic bullymong.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Asami said softly.

“Oh, don’t be, he was a dick.” Korra snorted. “But after that my dad and I built pretty damn impressive igloos for the rest of us. He taught me how to hunt and make my own clothes and weapons. What I didn’t know is that most stuff when it comes to hunting animals works real good on people too. Had to kill a guy who tried to rob us one night. It was pretty awesome if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Well he did try to rob you,” Asami shook her head.

“Exactly. So dad took the robbers ignorant ass gun as a trophy, later on stories about the vaults and stuff circulated through the village and I decided I wanted to check it out too. But then I heard it closed shortly after, but I still wanted to go. Got bored of ice and snow. So dad gave me the gun from the robber and wished me well.”

“Was the gun a Maliwan?” the siren asked.

“Nope, I didn’t start favoring Maliwan guns until I got to the Tundra Express. Met this crazy little chick named Tina. She was cool. She liked blowing things up but I kinda favored watching things suffer before they go out so she gave me this pistol I'm using in exchange for my gun, It a big-ass Torgue shotty.” Korra smiled. “I was struggling carrying that thing around anyway.”

“There I met this vault hunter named Brick through Tina, who introduced me to his then ‘pal’ Roland and his girl Lilith. They’re both vault hunters too. They told me I should help them with their Crimson Raiders thing but I was like ‘nah’. Just let me hunt stuff and find more guns like these and I’m good. They hooked me up with bounty board access and a heads-up display in case I changed my mind. And that is my full story.” Korra let out a long sigh.

“Never met Mordecai?” Asami asked.

“I have, but not then. Dude almost took my head off.” Korra replied. “So what about you?”

“My story isn’t as interesting as yours.” she turned to face Korra pulling her knees up to her chest.

“None ever are.” the bounty hunter chirped.

“Well,” Asami hesitated, deciding if she should tell the truth or not. “My father was on the board of the Atlas corporation. He helped them find the tech to make their guns so good. But shortly after that he wanted to branch off on his own. Start his own brand. He called it Future Industries. Thing is, he wanted to use some of the tech he helped find to use on his weapons. Atlas wasn’t having it so they kicked him from the board. So we lived in what was Haven before it was overrun. We lost my mom to the bandits. Dad was never really the same,”

“Well, I don’t know if you know, but they found out that Atlas sent the bandits to Old Haven. After, they used it as a bandit trap with all the signal flares they left around.” Korra spoke softly, carefully.

Asami nodded. “I know. I figured they did that because we were there. But, um, after that he went to Hyperion, they let him manufacture weapons but they’d be under the Hyperion name. He had a line of guns, about eight I think. And if I’m not mistaken they’re still in circulation.”

“I take it you don’t talk with your dad much anymore?” Korra asked.

“Haven’t spoken to the man in a long time.” Asami thoughtfully shook her head. “He’s looking for me though. I’ve left him clues that I’m okay, but I think he thinks I’ve run off to become a bandit or something. But I digress. I lived in Haven most of my life where my dad taught me all he knew, after Haven I lived on Helios, then on Elpis in Concordia, which was where I met Moxxi. They found out the new up and coming leader of Hyperion, Handsome Jack, was on some crazy world domination kick that she tried to stop. So she needed to get out of dodge and I came with her knowing that my dad was probably gung ho fb or it since he had been hellbent on destroying things since my mother died.”

“Runaway ex-rich girl huh?” Korra chuckled. “Still not as cool as my story though.”

“Of course.” Asami sighed.

"I cant believe you told me all that." the bounty hunter raised an eyebrow.

"Charmed it right out of me." the green-eyed girl replied.

"Still flirting, huh?" Korra snickered.

"That one slipped." Asami smiled.

"So I take it finding all this eridium stuff is so you can make better weapons than your dad? Or to actually make Future Industries guns?" Korra grunted as she sat up.

"A bit of both, yeah," Asami nodded. "Also, Hyperion knows me. So if they find me going after this stuff they'll tell my dad. He'll go on a damn rampage trying to find me. No bueno."

Korra nodded. And rolled over onto her back. "So, this is where I come in."

"Yeah," the mechanic shrugged. "And I'm not saying they can't see me. But if they do they damn sure can't live."


	5. Sinister Death Glove

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IN HONOR OF TURTLE DUCK DATE NIGHT

Go.... A-way." Earl spat as she violently slid his eye slot shut. 

"Your damn door is fucking glowing!" Korra banged on the steel door with an iron fist. "There is a very attractive young woman who would like large amounts of the shit you're lighting your crawl space with to make amazing weaponry." 

"I don't give a rats ass! Either buy something or get!" Earl screeched through his shut door. 

"I hope that shit turns you into a fucking beetle, old man!" Korra banged one more hard time. 

She had been giving herself a tour of Sanctuary while waiting for Asami to go out looking for more eridium. She had seen a lot of the not much that was here; the bounty board with its, like, two missions, Scooter's garage, met Dr. Zed, and got reacquainted with Marcus. Along the way she noticed Crazy Earl's glowing shack. 

Korra pouted as she shuffled to Moxxi's. Sunlight was replaced with dark pinks and purples and thumping slutty music. People were sprawled out in the booths and on the floor. She stepped over the few in her way and bounced onto a stool. 

"Morning, sugar." Moxxi greeted. 

"'Sup," Korra replied with a grin. 

"So you and Asami are going out today?" Moxxi asked, leaning on the counter. 

"Yep. Gonna go check around Three Horns I guess." Korra folded her legs on her barstool and pushed her palms against the sides of her knees.

 "What's out there?" Moxxi asked leaning over placing her elbow on the counter and resting her chin in her hand. 

"Southpaw... something. The steam power plant out there." Korra shrugged. "Said she may be able to squeeze a lead from someone there." 

"That should be entertaining to watch." the bar owner hummed. 

"Should it?" intrigued blue eyes widened, "How well can she fight? She looks like a black belt in the windmill style." 

"Asami Sato is a force, just not so much with a gun," Moxxi replied with a smirk. 

"I will keep that in mind." Korra nodded thoughtfully. 

"Hey, you ready?" Asami poked her her inside the door by the slots. She nodded to Moxxi and then looked to Korra. 

"Yep," the bounty hunter slid off her barstool and towards the door. "See ya later, Moxxi." 

"You two have a good time now, ya hear?" Moxxi teased as she went back to whatever she actually does during the day. 

Asami made her way to the fast travel station at the center of town, Korra close behind. Her blue eyes tracing her slender shoulders and down her curves and those pants she's wearing that stick out at her thighs make them look, like, super curvy. 

Korra could slot the bit of definition in her arms which proves she should at least be able to pick heavy things up, probably. Her eyes fell to this big ass copper, steampunk, looking glove she hand on her right hand. 

"What in the world is that big ass glove?" Korra asked as they walked into the open room where the fast travel station was. 

"This?" Asami turned to her gloved hand holding it up to face level. "This is death and destruction personified." she pulsed a bit of electricity through her arm, causing a green indicator light on the back to come on with a eerily friendly 'ding'. Sparks flew wildly around the glove, casting purple-blue light that filled the room and lit Asami's face sinisterly.

 And Korra had never been so frightened/turned on ever before, ever. 

The apparent evil-ass mechanic shut her fist, subsiding her light show with a red lipped smile. 

The Ostick native shifted her weight uneasily. Biting her lip and shaking her head. "Not sure if that was hot or terrifying." 

"That's what I was aiming for." evil mechanic giggled as she begun typing in coordinates for the fast travel. "God dammit." she said so properly.

 "What?" Korra snorted. 

"Powers out in the valley." Asami shook her head. "Damn bandits." 

"Oh well, its not that far of a drive. No worries." Korra shrugged turning to leave the room. 

"How would bandits know how to kill the power when everything there is run by steam?" Emerald eyes narrowed in thought. 

"Well not all bandits are mindless idiots bent on drinking blood to become vampires." Korra curled her hands into mock claws. 

Asami's face twisted in disgust as she followed Korra. "If you're attempting to defend them you're not doing a good job," 

"The sane ones don't drink blood.They kill for fun usually. Or had a reason to kill and lost sight of it." the bounty hunter strode for Scooter's garage. 

"You know an awful lot about bandits to not be one yourself." Asami eyed the tan girl suspiciously. 

"I told you my story. I'm a hunter. I have to learn stuff about what I'm hunting." Korra rounded a corner, facing Asami as she continued toward the steps beside the garage walking backwards.

 "You're going to fall." the siren pointed her gloved hand at the steps. 

"And I'll be okay." A crooked smile crossed Korra's face as she backed down the concrete stairs. "And I'll get a cute expression from you. Win-win."

 Asami rolled her eyes as she pushed the door at the top of the steps open and disappeared into the garage. 

Korra's grin grew wider as she turned and headed down the rest of the steps. She quickly rounded the corner and through the garage door. Asami had already arrived at Korra's 'borrowed' runner and was leaning against the passengers door waiting for Korra. 

"Did you run?” the southerner chuckled as she approached the car. 

“Of course not.” her voice was just a bit too calm. 

“Mmhmm.” Korra side eyed as she climbed into the drivers seat. “When do I get my bike by the way?” 

“You’ll get it.” Asami smirked. 

The engine roared as Korra started the runner. Like really roared. Like a lion. Flames shot out of the pipes in the back. The runner lifted up slowly and then bounced back and forth a few times before settling back down with a loud hiss. 

Asami white-knuckled a bar on the frame for dear life in hopes that the runner wouldn’t do barrel rolls and explode. She snapped her head towards Korra who looked annoyed more than anything. 

“All this was cool when I first got it but now it’s kinda over-the-top. Judging from how you look like you’re about to punch me in the face, I’m sure you agree.” Korra sighed. 

“Just fucking drive.”

 

* * *

 

 

They rode down the hill into the valley taking no precautions to avoid any skags or bullymongs in their path, thus making the ride rather bumpy. Asami cupped her chin in her hand, sure to clench her teeth in precaution of biting her damn tongue off with this maniac driving. Other than her apparent vendetta against the Pandoran wildlife, Korra actually was a good driver. Didn’t crash into anything at least. Except, of course, every creature in Three Horns. 

“Let’s, check the bounty board out first. I need to see exactly how they cut the power.” Asami said, careful not to part her teeth too much. 

“Alright.” Korra replied simply, as if she wasn’t dragging a bullymong trapped under the front bumper of the runner. She pulled into the motel lot and brought the runner to a halt. 

They both jumped out of the vehicle, Korra immediately going for the creature under the car, Asami watched Korra tug at the bloodied monster. “You know animal abuse is a sign of becoming a serial killer?” 

“Surprise, surprise.” Korra grunted, pulling at a gigantic hand. 

The mechanic shook her head and continued toward the bounty board. She opened the panel in the back and glanced over all the switches, and wires and all that other shit in there. Everything was as she had left it yesterday. 

“They didn’t alter anything. Or at least redirect the power from here.” Asami, felt a very slight plucking. She checked her shields but they were at max. She craned her head looking up at the steam pistons. They weren’t moving at all. Her eyes traveled to wires hanging and a few sparks flying above them. The plucking continued at the same pace the sparks were popping. 

“I can sense electricity?” Asami sighed quietly to herself. “Why are these powers coming to me so late?” 

“Eridium.” Korra approached from behind. 

“W-what?” Asami stammered, yet tried to sound distant like she wasn’t paying attention. Being a big wigs daughter had her hone those skills. 

“I got rid of him. The bullymong under the car?” Korra folded her arms, stopping next to the mechanic. “You figure out what’s going on here?” 

Asami mentally sighed. “The, uh, generator up there was destroyed. The steam piston can’t generate any power.” 

“Huh,” Korra grunted. Obviously didn’t really care about anything Asami just said. “Well, whatever. Let’s go check out this lead. I wanna shoot people.” 

“We’re gonna need him alive for at least long enough to get information.” Asami sighed heading back to the runner. “If you start this thing up again will it do all the crazy bullshit?”

 “Yes, and yes I know how to extract information from people. I do it all the time.” Korra followed behind Asami hands folded behind her head. “Where are we going?” 

Asami stopped far enough away from the vehicle to let Korra know she wasn’t getting in it for all the extravagancy a second time. “Southpaw is over there, down that hill.” Asami pointed. 

“Word.” Korra replied. as she climbed in the runner starting it up with a roar, flames, hydraulics, hiiiiiissssssss. 

Asami climbed in shortly after the hissing subsided and Korra drove off, hitting every skag on the hill. Asami clenched her teeth. The runner bounced down the rocky parts of the hill and coasted around the fence outside the small collection of building outside the power plants. Much to Korra’s delight it was full of bandits.

 “Do you need anything from any of these guys?” Korra tried to hide her smirk as she car slid to a halt. 

“Nope, the guy I want works inside.” Asami said, quickly scanning the bandits outside hoping that none of them were who she wanted. Korra had already jumped out of the car. 

Psychos, about 5, barreled toward her. Two with grenades, the others with tomahawks held high over their masked heads. Korra lobbed a singularity grenade behind them pulling them all back and soaking them in... slag? The fuck did she get slag grenades from? 

The grenades in the psychos hands that they weren’t smart enough to throw away exploded, blowing all of them to bits. Korra pulled her Venom from her back and jabbed the stock into her shoulder. 

Asami stood up in the runner, surging her energy into her gloved hand. It popped and crackled as she leapt out of the runner. She could feel her whole right side vibrating with energy. Her eyes glowed green, peering through the buildings in case more enemies were inside waiting to come out. 

Asami saw Korra reach for another grenade with all the bandits in front of her already soaked in corrosion. Asami focused on the three in front of her. The siren bolted towards them, feeling her footsteps get faster. The vibrating feeling started to spread to her legs. The bandits movements felt slow, everything felt slow, except for her. 

She didn’t dwell on it. She reached the bandits well before they could shoulder their weapons. She swept under the closest to her, grabbing the wrist he held his gun in and raising it as high as she could before slamming her gloved hand into the left side of his chest. She watched the electricity spread from one side of his body to the other before slowly crumpling to the floor. 

The other two hand their weapons in hand but hadn’t started shooting. Asami lowered herself as she approached. They were still moving suspiciously slow. But that didn’t matter at the moment. Asami grabbed the underside of the rifle the next bandit held. She twisted it upside, bringing the bandits arm with it before planting a foot square in his chest. She fought the urge to scream “SPARTA” as she threw his rifle away, jumping on top of his downed body and pressing cold copper to his chest. 

The last bandit seemed scared by what she had done to two of his buddies. He began to back up, looking behind him to make sure he still had space to. Asami felt the vibration covering her body subsiding, time returning to its normal pace. 

The bandit began to open fire. She opened her copper hand as to block some of the bullets, a few more pinged against her shield. She began to retreat find more suitable cover when she saw the bandit get yanked off his feet and splashed in deep purple. Asami wasted no time. She pressed a gloved hand to his back and held it there until she couldn’t hear him gurgle in pain anymore, which wasn’t long. 

“Thanks for that,” Asami huffed as she watched the singularity grenade finally drop the bandit she shocked to death. 

“Ran out of juice there, huh?” Korra rose an eyebrow, the smell of acid and burning flesh blew in from the breeze behind her. 

“Yeah, looks like it.” the siren stared at her glove. The green power light had turned red and started to blink, thick black smoke rose from the finger hinges. 

“Moxxi was right about you, you are definitely fun to watch fight if you can keep up.” Korra smirked. “It’s like that damn thing gives you superpowers.” 

Asami slightly rose her brow, so time was slowed down. What the hell are these fucking Siren powers? I already knew about the electricity thing and got that under control but now all this shit? This is crazy! 

“Yeah, this thing does that sometimes, but you see what happens.” Asami lifted her hand. Trying to cover her tracks was starting to become a chore. She could see that Korra was somewhat calling bullshit by the look on her face.

 “Yeah, I see.” Korra sighed. “Well I guess I definitely have to watch your ass now since your sinister death glove is broken.” 

“You won’t mind,” Asami winked, trying to redirect Korra’s obvious suspicion. 

“Of course not.”

 


	6. Cash In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter's a bit longer than the rest but I really dont expect them all to be near the same length anyway. here it is

It was dark and gloomy in the steam and power plant. Looked abandoned. Workers lockers were half closed, stuff was left on the floor. Some of the emergency lights were still on but that was it. No people anywhere

"Soooo, who or what exactly are we looking for in here?" Korra's voice bounced off the metal walls. She followed as Asami's boots tapped against the catwalk leading into the main room.

"There's a guy here named Oney. He's one of those nomad dudes." Asami started.

“Alright, then.” Korra sighed. “And just so I’m clear, we're here to talk, right? To a nomad?”

“Uh huh.” Asami replied absently mindedly, scanning all the equipment.

“You do know what nomads look like right?” Korra asked.

“Well, if he’s calling himself a nomad, according to the old childrens' stories he’s a peaceful dude who detaches himself from earthly things.” the mechanic replied, slowly looking over the park power plant.

The southerner folded her arms. “Yeah, okay.” she chuckled. She reached in one of her cargo pockets for the small ECHO headset Asami had given to her and placed it in her ear. “And his name is what?”

“One-y? O-ney?” Asami shrugged. “It’s spelled O-N-E-Y. Hell if I know how to correctly pronounce his name.”

“I’m glad that vending machine up front was still working.” Korra mumbled as the pair walked on.

The mechanics eyes darted here and there, looking at all the pipes, levers and gauges. Korra followed a few paces behind watching for any bandits popping out of any of this steel stuff weaving all over the damn place. Their footsteps clanked against the metal floor, sending ominous echoes through the building.

“You know, if anyone is here they’d be able to hear us walking around in here.” Korra said, giving the area they just walked out of another once-over before pulling her SMG over her shoulder.

“I’m sure,” Asami replied flatly.

Korra rolled her eyes as she continued on. She looked up at an ominously slow spinning fan casting shadows from the sunlight outside. The abandoned building vibe was strong in this place. The only thing missing is the realization that it probably isn't abandoned.

She shrugged and kept going. But as soon as she lifted her foot she felt herself kick something that went scraping loudly against the floor.

Asami jumped at the sound, quickly looking down at it and then at Korra. "The hell was that?" Asami hissed.

The bounty hunter knelt down to pick it up. "An ECHO recorder." She took a quick look around to make sure no one was in immediate area to hear it. She turned the volume down as a precaution and let it play.

"Alright, you mindless gun-hands. You're looking for a really hot chick with blue tattoos and mystical powers. A Siren. Specifically one named Lilith."

"Handsome Jack." Asami rolled her eyes.

"He knows about Lilith." Korra shook her head.

"...catch wind of her I'll pay you enough money to build a mansion made out of other.... smaller... mansions. Out."

"Jeez, if i didn't know her personally, and didn't already know she'd probably set me on fire from the inside out, I'd take Jack up on his offer." Korra smirked.

"Not sure if they told you but Jack and Lilith have... a history." Asami replied uneasily.

"I'm sure since Jack is offering mansion-ception for her head." Korra tossed the ECHO back on the floor.

"Why'd you do that?" the mechanic spat.

"We heard what the damn thing said, why keep it?" The elementalist kept moving, spotting another recording on a table nearby. "There's another over here anyway."

Asami moved to the table, right outside a doorway. She moved a bit further from the door in case anyone was on the other side. She lowered the volume and played the recording.

"Yeah, I just realized you grunts are gonna get yourselves killed without this little tidbit: all Sirens are born with different crazy-ass powers. You cannot- I repeat, cannot win a fight with them in one on one combat. You see Lilith, contact me immediately. I can handle her. You can't. Me, yes; you, no."

"Crazy-ass powers, huh?" Korra repeated.

"Sounds about right. Lilith is pretty awesome." Asami dodged.

"Uh huh." Korra replied.

Asami turned, leading further though the plant. Korra was getting much more suspicious. At this point she may even actually know. But she couldn't just ask her then she'd definitely know. 'I just hope there aren't any more of Jacks ECHO's here.'

They approached a doorway leading to stairs going further down into the building. The walls at the bottom had a red glow that flickered. There probably was a fire going down there. Asami sidled the wall, shooting a quick glance at Korra prompting her to do the same. They continued with careful steps, cautious not to make any noise.

The bounty hunter moved to the other side of the stairway, finger on the trigger of her gun. She carefully placed her other hand on the underbarrel, pulling the sights just below her field of vision. Her neck craned as ice blue eyes peeked around the threshold of the door. She could see the fire. It was weak, so someone had probably been here not too long ago. She leaned a bit further, careful not to cross the doorway and be seen from the other side of the hall before Asami got a chance to get a good look. No bandits that she could see.

She tucked herself back between the wall and the door frame shaking her head before her eyes met Asami's who promptly began searching around her side of the doorway. The hall was short and only went on a few feet before reaching a wall. Asami knew her "x-ray vision" would be useful but not worth it to expose herself to Korra. Not just yet. She checked along the wall for anything indicative of a door; protruding hinges, rounded scrapes on the floor, unusual lighting, a draft. Nothing but pipes running through.

She looked back at Korra with silent confirmation and waited for her next move. The hunter reached for the back of her harness pulling out a long knife, it looked like it was broken from a bayonet.  Handle first, she gave it to Asami who took it in her copper gloved hand.

Korra crept forward, keeping her gun up and her head down. Asami fell in behind, following her pace as she watched their flank. The two continued down the hall back to back as they approached the flame. Korra examined the fire. It was still weakening and littered with empty beer cans and burned scraps of cloth scattered around it.

And of course, another ECHO recorder.

"I found an old recording that might help you guys out with the siren."

Jack's voice switched off to a painfully familiar recording from Tannis.

"I've been observing this Siren, Lilith, since the opening of the vault. She appears to be using eridium to enhance her natural phasewalking abilities - this, naturally leads me to assume some unspoken connection between Sirens, eridium and the Vault."

Asami could feel Korra staring holes through her head. She kept her eyes on the ECHO.

"I have determined two additional things: firstly that she finds it irritating when others pluck out strands of her hair--"

Korra turned off the recording dropping the device on the floor.

"What the hell?" Asami asked.

"I was there when she was trying to pluck her hair out." Korra's expression was expecting. She knew.

"What do you think about the fire?" Asami queried quietly, her eyes carefully watching the doorways. Trying to look anywhere but at Korra.

Korra sighed, heavy with disappointment. "They were either camped here, or the flame was dying and they tried to get it going again. Thing is I can't tell if they left or if they're coming--"

"GUH HEH HEH HEH AHHH!"

They both snapped to attention, looking toward the hall in front of them. Korra quickly shuffled to find cover. Asami pressed herself against some of the piping on the right side of the room Korra climbed and laid herself prone on top of another pipe on the left.

Korra could looked further down the hall. another set of stairs went up into another room where a nomad, hopefully this Oney guy. Little midget psychos hoisting shotguns bigger than they were gathered around him, maybe about five. A couple marauders strolled the catwalks. Judging by how little of the room she could see from the doorway, there were probably way more bandits. In a better situation, and with a much better armed Asami, it would've been a cakewalk.

"What do you see?" Asami's voice crackled in Korra's microphone.

"I see a nomad. And lots of other bandits." Korra answered.

"No problem though, right?" Asami asked.

"Negative, there are a bunch in the area I can see so there's no telling how many there are where I can't. Unless you can somehow provide sniper support." the tanned skinned girls sarcasm stung hard.

It was clear Korra knew and was just waiting to be told. Asami sighed. She turned to face the door and focused her vision through the steel walls. She saw the nomad, and the midgets. There was a catwalk on the right with two marauders standing by fire barrels and about three on platform below.

More midgets with shot guns lined the lower platform on the left and there were about three snipers toward the rear of the room.

"Well, there are about eighteen people in there; there was a really big guy which I assume is the nomad, at least ten with shotguns and the others with long range rifles, including snipers, by the door to the exit. So we're kinda fucked."

"Was that so hard?" Korra replied.

"Yeah, it was. We should turn back." Asami sighed. "How long have you known?"

"Since Overlook." Korra replied. "Those goggles of yours make the glow from your eyes more like a beam. That I could feel. All up and down my body."

"You could feel it? Why didn't you say anything?" Asami asked.

"It felt like a massage. And I had cleared the area of little creepers before you got there so I know it wasn't a thresher or anything." Korra kept her eyes on the doorway. "I honestly thought you were gonna tell me then."

"Mmhmm, well we may have to continue this conversation later on." the mechanics voice was far sarcastically calm.

"...Fuck," Korra breathed.

"C'mon out or your hot ass friend gets a nice bullet for her brain." a deep voice rumbled in her headset.

Korra sighed as she threw her gun over her shoulder. She slowly stood up with her hands up and hopped down from the pipe on the wall.

A second nomad shoved Asami into Korra as the rest of the bandits that probably showed up while they were talking began to surround them.

"Hey! You're the one who stole my brothers runner!" one of the midgets that filed in said.

"I borrowed it." Korra grunted as she caught Asami by the shoulders.

"You killed him!" the bandit shouted.

"Still borrowed it." Korra shrugged. "I have an idea to get out of this, and you're not gonna like it but unless you have something better on short notice we have to do this. Just please follow my lead." Korra quickly whispered to Asami.

Asami nodded.

"Well that's enough reason to kill you two. Even though that was the plan anyway." the nomad that shoved Asami drawled. "So, any last words?"

"Well, I-I do, actually." Korra sighed. "Can I have a few last seconds with my lady friend here? I just-- listen Asami. I've been meaning to tell you this a long time and I was hoping I'd be able to after we got out of here but... Asami, I love you." Korra took Asami's hand into both of hers. She looked into her eyes with a quick apologetic but still romantic stare.

Asami matched her look. She rose a hand to caress Korra's incredibly soft face. She's a murderous killer, how does she keep her skin so damn soft. Korra reached a hand up to gently grab Asami's.

"I love you, too." Asami smiled tenderly.

Korra placed her hands at Asami's waist and gently kissed her soft lips and Asami with much less hesitation than she expected kissed back, throwing her arms over Korra shoulders. She was lost for a second and suddenly her life wasn't in danger anymore. She wasn't surrounded by gross bandits in some dank dark power plant. It only felt like her and this smart ass piece of shit her mouth was attached to. She could feel Korra getting a bit more rough which pulled her back to reality.

The bandits were whooping and cheering and though Asami was regretting putting on a show like this, well, fuck they might survive this. She kisses better than Athena did anyway.

Korra roughly grabbed her jacket and walked her into a wall. She parted from her lips and started to kiss on her neck near her ear.

"This is gonna be pretty damn awkward but we have to keep slamming each other into things until we get to the door." Korra breathed against Asami's neck.

"It's already pretty damn awkward." Asami whispered between dramatic moans.  

"This is so damn hot!" a bandit cheered.

Asami pushed Korra back capturing her lips ferociously while driving her through the doorway into the larger room. The other bandits joined in the cheering as Asami nearly rammed Korra into a railing.

"That actually hurt." Korra panted between kisses.

"This was your idea." Asami smirked.

"It wasn't a bad one." Korra replied. Korra gripped Asami's upper arms carefully carrying her down the stairs into another wall. The bandits in their path parted quickly, hollering like fucking monkeys.

Even though this was supposed strategic it was getting much more fun. Korra suddenly grabbed Asami's ass, hard, which prompted a harder slam into the next solid object and even a bit of over-zealous hair tugging, which loosened the tie holding much of Korra's hair. It cascaded over her shoulders in fluffy long tufts. She looked pretty gorgeous. Definitely making her way to hotness. A few more rammings into more pipes, railings and walls and they finally made it to the last catwalk.

"Exit's on the right," Asami grunted as Korra bit a bit too hard on her ear.

"We can make a break for it as soon as we get through the door." Korra winced as Asami's gloved hand clamped on to her side.

Korra nearly broke into a sprint as she ran Asami into the door. The mechanic reached for the door handle and they both fell through.

Korra quickly looped an arm around Asami and flipped herself to topple over on her back, breaking Asami's fall. She figured she probably nearly concussed the poor girl about three times.

Asami tumbled face first into Korra's chest and then slowly pushed herself up a bit. Her eyes traveled up Korra’s reddened neck, over swollen lips and into those gleaming azure eyes that, for the moment, where half closed and staring blankly at the ceiling. They slowly fell to meet Asami's emerald orbs.

"You okay?" Asami asked with genuine concern. Her hand slid up to Korra's shoulder. The mechanic could feel Korra's arm tighten around her waist and could see the pain in her face as she lifted her arm to cup her cheek.

"I'm okay." Korra's crooked smile crept across her face which caused Asami to smile a bit too. Korra let her hand drop from Asami's face. "You Sirens are fucking strong."

"You started it." Asami chuckled. "C'mon the bandits are coming and we haven't made a break for it yet."

"Aw, damn. We haven't." Korra sighed.

"Can you make it?"

"Yeah, my back is killing me though. Do you mind driving?"

"No problem."

"Cool. So break for it on three?"

"Alright."

"...3!"

Asami scrambled to her feet, Korra followed close behind. Another long pipe lined hall led to a door that if Asami was right would lead right to the workers lockers.

The midgets cackled, spraying shotgun shells down the hall. Asami could hear the bullets ricochet off Korra's shields.

She looked over her shoulder as the bounty hunter dropped another slag singularity grenade that pulled the midgets back and drenched them in slag. She quickly turned and pulled out her pistol.

"Korra, come on," Asami called, slowing her pace a bit.

"Keep going, I'll meet you." Korra fired blazing rounds into them all until they were all set aflame.

Asami hesitantly turned making her way to the door. She could hear quick hissing bullets as Korra began firing off her machine gun. The Siren grabbed the handle and swung the door open. Her heel clunked as she planted, it turning around to face Korra.

"Come on! Lets go!" Asami shouted. Either the hunter couldn't hear her or she still refused to stop fighting.

Bandits continued to flood the corridor and it'd only be a matter of time before those huge ass nomads make it out. Slowing time isn't something she knew how to trigger yet and the glove was shorted out.

"Korra!" Asami shouted again. Still no response. How the bounty hunter was still on her feet was beyond her. Her tank top was hiked up a bit in the back and a big red bruise was visible. Not sure if it was from being shot or slamming her against something.

Asami threw off her glove and pressed her hand to a pipe on the wall. She locked her attention just in front of Korra. If she could just get this pipe to burst right there. Asami willed her body, trying to force something to happen.

Her arm responded vibration and blue sparks covered her arm and traveled right where Asami needed it. The pipe burst open and sprayed steam between them and their assailants and finally, Asami had Korra's attention.

She gestured towards the door as Korra took off, rushing for the door out of the hall. They ran past the lockers, bent the corner and past the vending machines and out the door out to the valley.

"Start it up!" Korra yelled as she turned, ready to make another stand. She shouldered her weapon and started easing backwards. Her eyes were fixed on the door.

Asami did as she was told: she leaped in the car and shoved the key in the ignition.  The car roared as Korra began to break into a mad dash for the runner. The flames spouted and the hydraulics kicked in. Just as the runner settled, but right before the hiss, she vaulted onto the back of the vehicle and then into the gunners seat, smacking the rumble cage once she was secured.

Asami took off faster than Korra knew the runner could go. Suppressing fire tore small holes in the door to the plant much before any bandits ran out. The mechanic stomped on the clutch and threw the runner in gear. The runner drifted around the corner throwing its back end out wildly. Korra was only held in place by the gunners seat.

"We lose 'em?" Asami asked,her long hair waving in the wind.

"I don't think they even came outside." Korra released the turrets handles and slouched into the gunners seat. "So when were you gonna tell me about this Siren thing?"

"Not this soon. But then I didn't think we'd have made out either." Asami's smile was audible. "It was a crazy idea but it worked. And you worked pretty hard to protect me back there. I owe you."

"Can I cash in on that now?" Korra replied in shallow breaths.

"I... Suppose," Asami sighed.

"What is the story with Athena?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoot me some comments, let me know what you think. or follow me on tumblr or something. I like feedback, feedback is p awesome. @piictochat is my personal or @clockworkfictionnshit which ever they're both me


	7. Not All Bounty Hunters

Korra laid a balled fist over her stomach and stared at the ceiling with a satisfied grin. Asami had her on strict orders to not as much as lift a finger for the next twelve hours. Turns out Asami had run her so hard into a railing it bruised her tailbone. It hurt to move just about anything. Laying down even sent a twinge up her spine.

Asami spent half the rest of the day making sure she had been alright. She possessed impressive medical knowledge and had already carefully cleaned, treated, and bandaged Korra up already. A bag of really cold water was placed under the injured small of the bounty hunters back. Asami didn't want to use ice since Korra would bitch whenever anyone so much as touched her.

At the moment she was out of the room to get... something, but she promised to be right back. She hadn't broken one of those yet.

Korra felt weird being taken care of after so much time basically on her own. But since the gorgeous mystical Siren decided to do so, she decided she wouldn't object. She was surprised that Asami was still eager to help even after Korra had to make out with her to save their lives. Not to mention that Korra all but exposed her little secret. Honestly, she wouldn't have been surprised if Asami had just left her with an insta-heal syringe from Zed and called it a day.

"Hey," Asami greeted warmly, carrying a plate of instant noodles in her hands. "Sorry about the food selection. This was pretty much all I've got left to eat here for now."

"That's alright. I appreciate it." Korra smiled. She was still staring at the ceiling since moving would hurt like hell.

"Are you gonna try to sit up?" Asami asked.

"Absolutely," Korra replied, slowly tilting her head to look at Asami. She stared at her for a good few seconds. Longer than she was supposed to. Jade eyes looked back at her. God, they were bright and beautiful. And those lips, those beautiful red lips. Those beautiful, soft, perfect, awesome, great ass lips.

"Korra, you haven't sat up yet." Asami rose an eyebrow. She pulled up a stool to sit on.

"Right! You're right, I haven't. Sorry." Korra shook her head with very quick regret as pain shot up her back. She froze, her face twisted in pain. "I cant move." she admitted.

"Ask me for help Korra." the mechanic chirped.

Korra frowned so hard it almost made her back hurt. Her bottom lip poked out and her eyes narrowed. She stared into her fist, away from Asami.

Asami tried to fight a smile as she watched Korra pout. It was utterly childish and she knew someone with the level of asshole that she possessed would never ask for help for something as simple as sitting up, no matter how much pain she was in. But Korra made it cute with her brown fluffy hair, wild and nearly covering her pillow. And those eyes.

"Asami, can you help me sit up, please?" Korra mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what?" Asami smirked.

"Help me sit up, dammit." Korra growled.

"Aw, did I upset you?"

"Asami..."

"Is the strong widdle bounty hunter upset?"

"Oh my god. Asami..."

“I’m not saying it’s a coincidence that your temper is so short but..”

“Asami, please.”

Asami placed the noodles down on the stand next to the bed where Korra lay and stood up. She snaked her hand under Korra's head, enjoying an opportunity to run her fingers through her incredible hair.

"You ready?" Asami asked.

"Nope, but just hurry up and-- Ahhh! Mother fuck!" Korra shrieked as Asami quickly pushed her upright. The bounty hunter could feel her arm steadied against her back, holding her up (in case she couldn't do it on her own) while she adjusted the pillows.

"There" she said as she turned to place her hand back through Korra's lovely hair. And ease her back onto the pillows.

"You're an ass." Korra side eyed squinting a bit from the pain.

"Oh, absolutely," Asami grinned as she handed the noodles to Korra who proceeded to inhale them as fast as her injury would allow.

"So now..., since there's not much we both can do right now..." Korra began.

“How do you figure that I can’t go do anything right now?” the Siren interrupted.

“You shorted out your glove. And I’m sure it’ll take you a while to fix it because you have to find out how much electricity you can output before you make another so you don’t short out another one… Probably.” Korra answered. Of course she was right but Asami wouldn’t tell her. “But anyway, lets talk about this Athena." Korra slurped.

Asami sighed and slumped into her stool. "Ugh, you could've asked for anything else but you choose to learn about an ex."

"Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, young Siren," Korra mumbled with a thick trail of noodles hanging from her mouth. "Besides you've only known me for, like, two days and we've already gone on a date, kissed, and now I'm in your bed."

"You said that wasn't a date," the Siren rolled her eyes.

"You said I was a bandit," Korra stuffed the hanging noodles into her mouth.

"Those are unrelated."

"You were wrong. So was I. I made you sandwiches and gave you a juice box. Two things that are very dear to my heart."

"Sandwiches? And boxed fruit juice?"

"I enjoy simple pleasures."

"Well what do you want to know about Athena so we can get this over with?"

"Start to finish."

"Of course you would. Goddammit."

"It's best to let these things out completely."

"Shut up." Asami let out a long sigh before beginning. "Athena was an ex-Crimson Lance assassin. Raised to be an assassin from birth pretty much. She led the Omega, something, group thing she was in, or whatever."

"How eloquent." Korra sneered.

"She was looking for her sister, Atlas ordered an attack on the village where she sister lived, Athena ended up accidentally killing her own sister. Once she found out, she went apeshit and they locked her up but she escaped. Hid out at Moxxi's old spot near T-Bone Junction. She then led Roland and the others to take down her superior, General Knoxx, and damn near the whole Crimson Lance. After all that she was pressed for cash and took up jobs on Pandora. As a bounty hunter."

"Explains why you kept insisting I was a bandit." Korra snorted. "Not all bounty hunters suck, but as of right now she sounds pretty awesome."

"We'll get there." Asami grumbled. "So Jack hired her and some others to find a Vault on Elpis back when he was just a low level programmer. Which led to her getting tied up in Jack's uprising. She got shot out of a moonshot cannon thingy onto the moon after the Lost Legion attacked the ship to Helios. She eventually ended up in Concordia, where we met at Moxxi's."

"Who runs all these places while she's gone?" Korra asked with another mouthful of noodles.

"She...' Asami hesitated. Her secret was exposed but Moxxi didn't want ANYONE to know she was a Hodunk mechanic, just like her kids. "...gets me to make her robots. To run the bars. She also has tournament venues, too, one of which was destroyed by Hyperion. But let me finish talking about this bitch." Asami hissed bitterly.

"Athena and her partners would come back to Concordia every now and then; we got close after I tweaked her hella cool shield, we'd talk, take walks, the whole nine. She brought me stuff she'd thought I'd like from her various jobs. One day we kissed. And kissed some more. I'll admit I fell for her. Pretty hard actually. To the point where I didn't care if it was requited. We kiss a lot and she brings me cool shit. It'll happen.

"So she was gone a really long time for some jobs for about a few weeks and I missed her. Apparently she did too. When she finally came back we had pretty awesome sex. Thing is she didn't tell me that was the last time she'd be coming back. The next morning I woke up next to an ECHO pretty much saying that I'd likely never see her again and that she cared for me and all that lying bullshit. But that day is also when Moxxi launched her plan to fuck up Jack and Athena (and her partners) plan. We all fled Concordia after and went back down to Pandora to New Haven.

"Word is, after the Vault, Athena wasn't really feeling Jack's maniacal intentions and left him too. Which I could believe because she wasn't there when Jack attacked New Haven. It was just that creepy dude Wilheim. If you could even call him a dude anymore. They leveled the whole town."

"So you were there for the destruction of Old and New Haven?" Korra asked.

"I will never live in another place named Haven again." Asami folded her arms.

"Um, Sanctuary is pretty much a synonym..." Korra started.

"Shut your damn mouth." Asami replied.

"Well, in case today's sexuality is in my favor, I won't run off on you in case you feel like you need some emotional comfort. As my injuries leave me unable to run at all, currently." Korra smiled.

"I'm still very asexual today, sorry." Asami giggled.

"Fiddlesticks." Korra snapped.

"Besides, I'd probably destroy you, you can't even sit up on your own." the mechanic stood, taking Korra's now empty plate.

"For you, Asami, and also that ass, I'd can do anything." Korra slowly began lifting herself from her pillows. Her body was trembling and her smile became more and more grim. She hadn't even fully parted from the pillow before beads of sweat began forming.

"You're gonna make it worse if you don't cut that out." Asami lifted an unimpressed brow. "You probably wouldn't be so bad off if you had just run away with me and not played the hero trying to fight all those bandits."

"You're hot and you pay me. And maybe one day we can actually be close enough that I make you question all of your sexualities. So, yeah, a few bullets and a irritated bruised tailbone are worth it. I hope." Korra laid back down.

"Well how about we work on 'friends' for now." Asami smirked as she started for the door. "These slowly developing Siren powers, Jack hunting Sirens and finding Eridium is enough without having to worry about if my ass looks grabbable enough in these pants."

"Your ass is always plenty grabbable."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and hits lately guys it and honor. I had some time so I decided why not go ahead and update this again for you guys. And since I pretty much started this last night I may be half way through the next chapter sometime today. stay tuned.


	8. Ass Grabbability

It had been a few days but Korra was now able to move around without crying now. Her back still hurt like hell but it was the kind of hell you could live with. Asami gave her a really ugly brace for it and threatened that if she didn’t wear it that she’d kick her in the back. So naturally Korra had no place not to oblige. She had also been staying at Asami’s for those few days, eating nothing but instant noodles and drinking really, really strong tea. 

Whenever Korra could manage to walk around, she watched Asami work on her glove. and just as she had told her before she was trying to figure out how much electricity she could build up and make her glove accordingly. The problem was actually making her powers work. The only thing she could control on demand was what she calls ‘phase sight’. Korra thought the name was dumb but Lilith phasewalks so… whatever. Let the deadly warriors have their weird ass titles for their abilities. 

Other than the glove, Asami had some other thing she was working on but never let Korra see, saying it was a surprise. So Korra actually left it alone. She had less of a tendency to pry when she started to trust. 

After gaining clearance from the warden, Korra decided to take a walk around Sanctuary, otherwise known as hang out in Raiders HQ and talk to Moxxi. Moxxi was first on the list since she had all the information she could impress people with at headquarters, so she slowly hobbled het way to the bar.

“Well, well, well. Look who’s back on her feet,” Moxxi nearly gasped. 

“Hey there,” Korra grunted as she limped her way toward a barstool. “Hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

“Not at all, actually,” Moxxi grinned, grabbing a clean glass from a cupboard.

“Well, damn.” Korra said as she hung her head playfully. Moxxi slide her a cup full of golden liquid.

“A little birdie told me you like drinking this kind of stuff.” the bartender leaned against her side of the counter watching with anticipation.

Korra eyed the drink suspiciously before shrugging and taking a sip. Her eyes flew open as she chugged the rest. “Fucking yeeeeesssss! Apple juice! I never thought I’d drink anything other that strong ass tea and water for the rest of my life. Let alone this stuff. Moxxi, marry me now please.”

“Don’t marry me, your roommate gave me the suggestion.” Moxxi grinned. “Speaking of which, where is sparky?”

“Working, still. Between this surprise and trying to get her glove working she’s been in her workshop for days.” Korra folded her arms happily after finishing her drink and nearly squealed with joy after Moxxi filled her glass again.

“I’m thinking you'll like the surprise.” the bartender replied. 

“Mmhmm” Korra’s voice was funneled inside the glass. "Surprises are cool. I didn't know this stuff came without a box."

"You're not trying to figure out what it is?"

"Nah."

"Why?"

"Don't have a reason to be suspicious anymore. She nursed me back on my feet in her own damn house."

"That is true. I heard about your little escapade in Southpaw."

"What did you hear?" Korra wiped away a thin bubbly juice moustache.

"Her exact words were: 'Moxxi if she finds out I'll kill you, but, it was a lot better than I expected. Much better than Athena's lame kisses. It felt easy, and I actually lost track of what was going on in the room.' Insert hair flip." Moxxi mimicked. "She also said that you tried to save her life over yours by letting her fall on top of you so she could run since she... blew your back out."

"Heh, blew my back out..." Korra guffawed. "Yeah. I needed to have some heroic life threatening moment that could guarantee me the girl and all that. You know, get some entitlement under my belt."

Moxxi rose an eyebrow her expression was borderline disgusted. 

"I'm not serious!" Korra defended. "I respect Asami. If she's gonna be my excellent lady thang, It'll be because she finally realized all this excellence is something she absolutely cannot live without." she slowly held up her arms and carefully flexed them. 

"Exactly." Moxxi nodded. "So much excellence."

"So what's been going on since I've been on solitary confinement?" the bounty hunter slowly pulled her legs onto her stool and crossed them. It was much more painful to sit that way but the brace helped... probably? Korra face twisted accordingly.

"Some new Vault Hunters showed up." Moxxi sighed as she began to clean Korra's glass.

"Is that a bad thing? You dont sound too happy about it." Korra rose an eyebrow.

"Mmm-mmm" Moxie shook her head as she placed Korra's glass on the center of the counter. She pulled a little note that Korra couldn't readily make out other that the word 'tips', attached it to a straw and set it in the cup. "Not yet at least. New Vault, new hunters, new problems. But also new customers that'll actually tip."

Korra smiled at the tip jar and dropped whatever change she had in her pocket inside it. Small change meaning a freaking wad of cash. 

"Wow, someone"s been working hard before her injury."

"Yeah, well, y'know...." Korra shrugged.

"Oh, also, Roland was kidnapped by a group of bandits. And the firehawk is trying to get a bead on him. The Vault Hunters are already on top of that." Moxxi added.

"Oh, well okay, then." Korra replied with disinterest. "Guess I won’t be visiting Raiders HQ after all."

"You don't seem worried." The barkeep leaned over her side of the counter.

"Nah, not really." the bounty hunter drew circles on the counter through the small rings of condensation left from her glass. She grinned. "I like to keep my circles small. Too much stress worrying about too many people and their issues."

"That's one way to look at it." Moxxi shrugged. "As someone who sets up tournaments where people die en masse, I agree with that way of thinking."

"Speaking of people dying, I need a favor." Korra folded her hands on the table. "This brace is hideous and I need something to cover it up. So I'm gonna go hunt more skags and bullymongs. However, I'm sure there's a tracking device on this. So I need a way to disable it long enough for me to leave Sanctuary."

"Spin your stool, sugar." Moxxi hummed. 

Korra pushed off from the counter, turning herself. Moxxi reached over and pressed against the brace with a click. 

"Hurry up and get out of here." Moxxi purred.

"You could've at least warned me first woman." Korra slid from the stool and hobbled out of the bar. She hung a left and awkwardly climbed over the wall at the end of the alley. She regretfully landed flat on the feet at the other side of the wall and broke into a limping sprint to the gates. They slowly opened for her as she darted out and ran to the catch a ride.

Korra recalled one of the notes Asami left around her apartment for the codes to one of those bike. Her fingers pecked at the keys and viola, an awesome black motorbike materialized. Korra quickly hopped on and gunned towards the valley.

 

Didn’t take her long as she pulled up to the hotel where the steam piston was now working. "Somebody got that working, huh?" The elementalists eyes lingered on the piston and then trailed to the top of the motel where its sign was.

"Happy Pig Motel." Korra snickered as she left the lot. As usual it was the same deal; mongs on the left, skags on the right. She weighed the options and skags are easier. Much smaller anyway. The leather mutts crawled out of their hole as she approached. The first was an alpha which was perfect because she prefered something brown for once. It roared its' gross, flappy jawed, slobbery roar and Korra met it with a few flaming rounds into exposed mouth flesh. It quickly shut its mouth, shooting dark smoke from its nostrils? Do they have those?

Korra jogged briskly over to it and kicked it over. She pressed her boot to its throat forcing its mouth back open and opened literal fire into its mouth until it stopped kicking around. The other skaglets roared and were all quickly dispatched in a wash of acid. 

The bounty hunter heaved a sigh as she kneeled to pick up her game. She lugged the creature over her shoulder and started back for the hotel lot: one painful step at a time.

"Hey, hotshot. Get it, cause you have a fire pistol? Gold. Anyway, Asami is out of her workshop and headed here you don't have much time left." Moxxi's voice crackled over her headset. 

"Okay, just try to stall her? And if she heads out dissuade her from murdering me with her electro powers, pl0x?" Korra replied through grunting steps.

"I make no promises, sugar. Just don't hurt yourself out there."

"Uh huh," Korra sighed as she dropped the skag near a campfire and headed for the bullymongs.

Korra huffed a few times to catch her breath. She placed her hands on her hips, or along this obnoxious ass brace, as she trudged up the hill. Hopefully the little guys were around today. And hopefully just one.

And... there was. Little extra fuzzy fella too. Of course upon sight of Korra it banged its four death fists on the ground and growled.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on a time constraint, my back is killing me. Let's hurry this up, yeah?" Korra sighed as she lowered herself into position. She pulled out a sharpened tomahawk she grabbed from a psycho and held it out in front. The bullymong began to circle and so did she, watching its' huge grubby hands. 

"Korra! Where in the blue fuck are you?" Asami's inevitable screech through her headset made her flinch. Which in turn angered the primal creature in front of her.

"Uh," Korra stammered. "The ECHO you have reached is not in service. Please check your transmission and dial again."

The bullymong hurdled into the air, a pair of fists held high over its head. Korra rolled away, every motion sending pain right to her lower back.

"Korra," Asami hissed.

"Oh hey, Asami. I didn't recognize your voice there."

"I'm sorry, kid, but if you make it away from there alive, Asami is still probably gonna kill you." Moxxi sighed.

"You're in on this, too?!" Asami shouted.

"Ooh, wrong channel. Well good luck to ya!" Moxxi's channel clicked off.

Solid clumps of dirt were secured between the mongs chunky fingers. Korra quickly tossed the tomahawk, lodging it in one of the bullymongs dominant arms. It dropped one clump but still wound back to throw the other. Korra pulled out her SMG and sprayed acidic bullets into the mass until it broke apart. Just in time too.

"Are you fucking fighting shit again?" Asami was sounding more and more pissed by the second. She was actually getting scarier than the damn wild ass aninal in front of her.

"Of course not, Asami." Korra lied. "Did I mention you look hella hot today? And your ass grabbability is off the damn charts, girl."

"I'm gonna ask one more time," Asami said quietly. 

At that point Korra was terrified.

"Hey, uh, you know the powers back on in Three Horns? Crazy right? Those Vault hunters are something else," Korra chuckled uneasily as she sprayed acid onto the mongs legs.

"Thanks for letting me know" Asami said happily. Her comm clicked closed.

Korra sighed mentally and gave her full attention back to the bullymong who she just decided to load full of acid bullets. All she needed was the fur. The mong eventually dropped with an exposed rib cage. Korra pulled the tomahawk inside its arm free and used it to cut all the fur from its head and arms. She quickly stuffed the blue and white fluff into her pockets and in her arms and quickly made her way back to the campfire.

She quickly skinned the skag, humming happily as she stretched its' brown hide over the flame. She watched leather shrink and turn the exact color she imagined it would. It finished after a few minutes. Skag leather was usually quick. She held the leather around her trying to estimate exactly what needed to be cut. Once she took the mental measurements she wiped off her tomahawk and began cutting. 

The steam piston was actually welcoming, although loud. She occasionally heard gunfire but, thats normal. She found herself beatboxing along with the piston for a few seconds when it hit her.

"I fucking told that damn Siren where I am," Korra whined.

Korra quickly finished cutting. Recognizing that this would probably be the last bit of clothes she'd ever make. She glued the fur into a little insert at the bottom of the piece of leather, alternating the colors as best as her anxiety would allow. She pulled a needle and thread from a cargo pocket and stitched the insert closed. She shook the stray fur loose and tied it around her waist and viola! Stylish ass back brace cover sash. And the shit looks cool. She smiled as she checked herself out in some surprisingly unbroken mirror. But all happiness, and color, was drained when she heard thunder.

Korra quickly checked the sky for clouds. Damn near praying for clouds. Where the fuck are the clouds? Of course there aren't any fucking clouds.

Korra watched as the glowing green-eyed, electrocutioner her-goddamned-self walked down the hill. Korra's eyes were wide but she wondered why she walked. But then she remembered that she kinda also stole her bike from the catch-a-ride. Fear was gripping the bounty hunter so much so that she almost didn't see the gigantic mother fucking bullymong beating its chest right behind the deathbringer herself.

Of course Asami knew it was there. Before Korra could lift a finger the Siren raised her glove high over her gorgeous head, and snatched it back down. And then she kept walking. The bullymong was probably as confused as Korra was but thunder rumbled and a wicked bolt of lightning zapped the bullymong and nearly disintegrated it.

"Ooooooh, dear." Korra whispered. She tried to move her feet to run but instead ended up walking over to Asami's bike. As soon as she reached for the handle, Asami's bare hand was on the other.

"Well... Hello, there!" Korra squealed. Although Asami’s super speed was cool, it wasn’t right at this moment.

"I told you not to leave Sanctuary." Asami's voice was cold and calm. Blue and purple bolts of lightning danced up and down her right arm.

"I know, you told me exactly that. And I-I’m am not in Sanctuary. I now see the error of my ways. I'm gonna go back, right now." Korra started to back away.

"No, no, we’re already here we can talk about this right here." Asami replied.

Korra froze. 

"You got fucking hurt to the point where you could barely move and now you can walk a bit and you want to go out fighting more shit before you even heal all the way?! And for what? A fucking sash?" Asami growled.

"Asami, it is great to see that you care. I appreciate that, but killing me isn't gonna solve anything." Korra retreated.

Asami slowly blinked. Her eyes returned to their regular greenness and the electric storm around her arm subsided. She reached into a bag that in all the impending doom Korra hadn't noticed and tossed a black case towards her. "Take this." Asami sighed.

Korra promptly kicked it away out of pure reflex. She shot a quick look at it then back to Asami. "What the fuck was that?" Korra asked quickly.

"It was the fucking surprise you idiot." Asami shouted.

"Well you came here with murderous intent, it could've been a grenade," Korra shouted back.

"Just go get it" Asami rolled her eyes.

Korra started for the case. She never took her eyes off Asami as she backed away cautiously. 

"I'm not going to kill you. Just go get the damn thing before a skag eats it." Asami said again. 

The bounty hunter walked toward the case that she kicked halfway to the skag hole. She opened the case and saw a clear cylinder. With a black line zigzagging between the top and bottom the power sources were little round orbs on the bottom, or so it looks.

"What is this?" Korra asked. 

"Put it on your stupid arm." Asami grumbled as she leaned against her bike.

Korra, for once, did as she was told and slipped it on over her right bicep.

"Now aim one of your guns." the Siren instructed. 

The bounty hunter pulled her pistol from its holster and aimed it into the skag hole. As soon as she did, the armband turned red and burst into flames, flames that don't burn.

"They're digistruct flames." Asami folded her arms. "It changes according to the element you're using and boosts the elemental damage done. And since Maliwan guns do devastating elemental damage, you can burn things to a crisp much faster. It's a class mod by the way."

"This is pretty damn awesome." Korra said shooting off a few extra fiery rounds into the skag hole. "I told you I love you, right."

"No, and don't," Asami smirked as she approached the bounty hunter. "Oh and by the way." 

"Huh?" Korra mumbled as she turned her head.

Asami had settled her hands at Korra's biceps, running delicate fingers over sculpted muscle. She snaked her head over Korra's shoulder and could see Korra's cheeks lift into a smile.

"Next time..." she whispered tenderly into Korra's ear. Korra's arms flinched a bit. Asami stepped back and placed a hard boot into the center of Korra's covered back brace. "Don't you ever fucking leave when I tell you not to you idiot."

Korra fell face first into the ground. Pain radiating through her lower back.

Korra glanced up at Asami as she walked around her. She just smiled. She fucking smiled!

"See ya at home, babe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thats for all the love you giys the fics only been live for just over two weeks and it already has close to 2k hits! I appreciate you guys reading and commenting. Makes me feel all special =3


	9. Twiggles, Can You Please Pass the Crumpets?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While i was writing this i was thinking, people who dont play borderlands read this. So of course it would seem that Korra and Asami are really gruesome and barbaric but thats just the nature of the game. (theres even a guy who zealously gives you a mission to shoot him in the face and thanks you when you do it) people and things die like a lot to the point where people dont even care anymore but its hilarious at the same time. Long story short if you havent played the game, please do your self a favor and do.

So it's been a crazy two weeks. Like, I was chillin in the runner I borrowed, waiting for this fiiiiine tenderoni to fix this bounty board by the 'Happy Pig Motel'; wavy black hair, green eyes, and a body like a dream. So I, like, talk to her and she thinks I'm a bandit. Foolish, right?"

"You do come across as a bandit, homie." Tiny Tina replied.

"Fuck you." Korra rolled her eyes. "Soooo she turns out to need help finding more of that Eridium. So she hires me as her own personal hired hand. But, like, on our first mission we end up cornered, damn near captured. So I used that idea you had of two hot chicks making out to get us out of there. But the gorgeous mother fucker damn near cracked my fucking spine slamming my ass into a railing."

"She is a Siren, bruh," Tiny shrugged.

"Yes, no one's supposed to know that though." Korra replied. "So she actually nursed me back to health and gave me this back brace that I could hardly stand up straight in. So I got the idea to make this dope ass sash. So I snuck out to grab some leather and fur. But her ass found me and I swear to god nothing on Pandora ever really scared me until I saw her walking into the valley, glowing green eyes with electricity flowing down her arm. She fucking struck down a badass bullymong! All she did was lift her damn arm!" Korra mimicked Asami raising and dropping her arm. 

"But she came to her senses after a bit of convincing 'cause, let's face it, I'm far too cute to kill. She gave me this beauty right here that makes all my elemental shit way more cool." the bounty hunter gestured to her armband. 

"Word, I'm glad you had a good time while you were gone, Twiggles. But now since you've brought your fine ass back, we have to go raise some hell." Tina shouted as she jumped off her tea table. 

Korra sat with her knees to her chest on the ground, watching as Tina retreated into her workshop for some explosives, no doubt. Korra was still a bit sore from being kicked in the back. Of course, Tina shouldn't hear about that right now.

"You know those Vault Hunters are heading this way. Roland needs one of Jack's trains blown up." Korra laid back lazily.

"That's cool and all, but, we haven't blown things up in a lot of days." Tina grabbed a rocket then shook her head and put it away. "Better yet. How about a tea party for old times sake?"

Korra was a huge fan of Tina's parties. Especially the end of them. She sat up and pulled her knees back to her chest. "Now, Lady Tina, you know how I just lurve, your tea parties." Korra's voice was heavily accented and extra prissy.

"You know I know what you want, girl." Tiny said with a low voice as she reached for her tea set.

"Let's go find some guests." Korra smirked.

_______

"So your powers are slowly awakening, you didn't have them from birth? Did you have the tattoos?" Dr. Tannis circled around Asami.

"Yeah, but since I didn't have any powers my parents and I never really focused on it. We just covered them in clothes and makeup." Asami rose an eyebrow at the doctor.

"When did you first notice your powers?" Tannis asked, folding her arms behind the Siren.

Asami mentally pondered. She crossed her arms, holding both elbows. "Probably a bit after the Vault opened. My tattoos were more saturated, and a bit more bold. Even then my powers aren't anywhere near what they are now. Before I could only just manipulate as much as some static but-- ouch! Are you pulling out my hair?" Asami faced the doctor who twirled a single strand of dark hair around her finger.

"It's for research." Tannis blurted. "You're just as curious about your powers as I am. Every sample I can obtain is useful, Miss Sato."

Asami rolled her eyes, Korra warned her about Tannis trying to take hair samples. She could nearly hear the bounty hunter laughing at her now. 

"May I see the tattoos?" Tannis was already tugging at Asami's sleeve.

"Why even bother asking?" Asami sighed. The siren unzipped her jacket, placing in neatly on a nearby table. She wore a lavender tank top that matched the color of the tattoos that sleeved her right arm. 

"This is magnificent, these are nothing like Lilith and Maya's marks. And the color. Why the purple instead of blue? Is there some relation to the Eridians? There must be because these symbols are similar to the markings at their ruins.Do they cover your midsection and leg as well?" the doctor began to lift Asami's top but was quickly stopped by a tattooed hand.

"Yes, they do." Asami's tone was steely and her eyes basically said 'lift my damn shirt and I'll lift your head.... Off your shoulders?' Something threatening like that.

"...Oookay." Tannis retreated back to Asami's arm. She ran her fingers over the marks, once quickly and then another slowly. "No reaction to touch, same as with the other Sirens. Do the marks react in any way when you activate your powers?"

"Only, if I have Eridium. They glow. If I have enough, my eyes glow purple instead of green when using phase sight. The electricity I generate also turns purple." Asami explained, taking a moment to eye her tattoos. 

"Okay so, just as a recap, your powers that you now know of include...?" the doctor returned to her desk and began jotting down notes.

"I have layered x-ray vision, I can move at super speeds by exclusively slowing time down for myself, and, of course, I can generate electricity through my right hand." Asami recited as if she had them written down. She more than likely had them written down.

The doctor wrote in a flurry while she reached for an ECHO recorder. "Thank you, Miss Sato. Since you are more sentient than most other people on this dustball they call a planet, if you have any other findings or notice any other changes please note them and bring them to me at your earliest convenience."

"I will, Doctor Tannis. Thanks." Asami quickly threw her arms back through her jacket. She grabbed her copper glove from the doctors desk and slid it back on. Before she had turned to leave she heard loud and quick footsteps coming from the stairs. A heavily armored but handsome guy, Maya, the other Siren, a really short , hairy dude and... A robot alien, all burst into a run down the stairs of HQ and towards the center of town. They let off a few rounds, ran around in circles a bit, checked the bounty board and then all disappeared into the fast travel room.

"Weirdos." Asami shook her head. The dark of the headquarters building was replaced with a wash of sunlight as she stepped into the center of town. The siren intertwined her fingers and pushed her hands out to crack them. After a (one) satisfying pop, she flipped her hair away and tapped the button on her communicator. 

"Hey, bandit." Asami chuckled to herself as she started on her way to Moxxi's. After a few seconds there was a response.

"Hey, wifey." Korra replied.

"I am not your wife." Asami chuckled aloud that time.

"I'm not a fucking bandit." Korra growled. "What do you need, princess? I'm kinda in the middle of a tea party here."

"A... What?" the siren rose an eyebrow.

"You'd have to be here, but, seriously what's up," Korra asked.

"The Vault hunters are headed your way now, I'll be there soon after I run to Moxxi's."

"Cool, I'll let Tina know."

"Please don't do anything irreversibly stupid."

"Uh huh, anything else mother?"

"What are you wearing?"

"I got this sash that you almo--wait what?"

"Bye, Korra." Asami giggled as she closed her comm. By the time she ended her conversation, she had already settled into her stool at the bar.

Moxxi already had Asami's glass of water ready. "Talking to the girlfriend?"

"Sure," Asami replied.

"Not nearly as apprehensive this time. Seems the bounty hunter is making good progress." Moxxi purred.

"She's a pain in the ass." Asami shook her head with a slight smile.

"You're smiling so it must be a good pain in the ass. Did she crack those electric panties yet?"

"She hasn't even seen my tattoos."

"You'll show her."

"She's never asked to see them."

"You cover them up. She probably thinks you don't want to show them to anybody."

"She'd be correct in thinking that."

"See how she knows you so well?"

"Moxxi..."

"You guys sleep in the same bed at night."

"Only cause the street rat doesn't have anywhere to stay and I only have one bed that she's used to now."

"You also have a floor and she's pretty much healed up."

"Okay! Fuck, I may like her a bit." Asami's small smile spread a bit bigger."She's an asshole and over aggressive and violent as hell, but I think what I like most is that she's not like that to me. I mean she's still an asshole but a hot asshole with muscles and long hair and the most beautiful blue eyes."

"Think she's not an asshole to you because she's scared of you?" Moxxi asked.

"She's only afraid of what I can do, not necessarily me. And she's been like that before I had to kick her ass." Asami looked at her glove. "Besides, she takes my mind off of things. I don't think about my dad or Athena. When it's just us it's... just us."

"You plan on telling her that?" Moxxi asked.

"Not anytime soon and neither will you." Asami chugged her water and slammed the empty glass back onto the counter. "Like, seriously, don't. If I decide to, I wanna do it myself."

"Alright, my lips are sealed." Moxxi smiled.

Asami stepped down from the stool. "Welp, going on another run. See you later."

"Good luck out there Mrs. Hotshot." Moxxi teased.

_______

"Twiggles, could you please pass the crumpets?" Tina held a tiny chipped cup of pretend tea and waved it at the plate of pretend crumpets in front of Korra.

"Why, certainly, Lady Tina." Korra handed the plate to Tina over a tied up nomad in a small chair.

"Thank you, Twiggles." Tina nodded toward Korra who nodded in return. "Now Mr. Nomad, it seems that you may be confused as to what my dear friends and I require of you."

"I know where Flesh Stick is but I'll never tell the likes of you." the nomad drawled. 

Korra shook her head and stood up. "You're making this infinitely more fun for me." Korra grinned. She drew her pistol aiming at the nomads' tied hands. Her armband caught fire and she shot a flaming bullet at each bulging, dry skinned knuckle. 

The nomad howled in pain wriggling in his undersized seat. 

"Better learn to speak up, I've got more where that came from." the bounty hunter pulled a grenade from her pocket and closed the nomads smoldering hand around it. 

"Heh, heh, heh..." the nomad bellowed. 

"Say what, bitch? This is funny?" Korra pulled the pin from the grenade and stood back. The flames from her armband subsided and instead turned a bright glowing purple. The grenade quickly bathed him in slag. He coughed and sputtered as the substance turned his whole body a deep purple. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can't hear you over the burning of your flesh." Korra said with folded arms.

"This is slag! It doesn't burn you dipshit-- Aaahhhhhgggggg!" the nomad was promptly interrupted by a few corrosive rounds to his arm.

"Don't you tell me about my elements, sir, this is my job." Korra yelled obnoxiously and pointed an arrogant finger in his face. "Lady Tina, I believe our guest may be a bit more willing to speak now." Korra bowed and dramatically backed away.

"Thank you so much, Twiggles." Tina nodded as she rose from her seat and stepped onto the table. She stood in front of the nomad with her hands on her waist. Somehow the nomad still found it in him to laugh.

"Think the pain drove him mad?" Korra rose an eyebrow.

"I'll never tell, I'll never... Ha ha ha ha haaaa." the nomad gasped as he finished laughing.

"Nope!" Tina yelled.

"What in the hell are you two doing?" Asami asked as she walked into Tina's mountain cave. 

"Hey, honey. Perfect timing." Korra gasped as she scrambled to Asami's side, walking her to the tea table. "Tina and I are trying to get information out of this guy. He knows someone who sold Tina's parents to Hyperion for slag testing but won't tell us where he is."

"This is an invitation only party!" Tina hissed. 

"It's cool, yo, she can help." Korra smiled she turned back to Asami. "Look I know you might think this is stupid but, slag testing? Eridium? More scary-ass Siren powers? Huh?" 

Asami sighed as she pulled her glove further onto her hand. She approached the nomad. She looked him over for a second and shook her head with her hand over her eyes. "How you convince me to do dumb things like this I'll never know."

The Siren looked up at the nomad with glowing purple eyes. Sparks began to fly around her glove. "Hello" she greeted.

"What the...?" the nomad blinked... probably.

"My friends and I wanna know where this dude is. I'm gonna need for you to tell them." Asami's tone was friendly. Almost soothing.

"Never." the nomad grunted.

"Right..." Asami nodded. She slowly brought her glove up to his face. "Now i don't know how much electricity this thing is pumping out right now. But I just equipped an Eridium chip in this thing which definitely made it much stronger. Should we find out how much power this is packing together?"

"Heh, heh, do your--"

"Now, sir," Asami placed her gloved hand on his shoulder, rubbing it back and forth. "This thing isn't even on two, it's on one. Lowest power setting. You don't look comfortable."

"I ain't gonna tell." the nomad strained.

"Oh, okay." Asami nodded as she walked around him. She stopped on his other side. "Lets kick this up to ten." Asami's glove went from a few sparks to full-on lightning storm.

"Now, I'm sure my chiseled friend over there already showed you the wonders of slag. I can tell, I can still smell it on you. Now it approximately multiplies elemental damage by about double. So if one was bad, lets try ten and add slag." Asami's glare was deadly. She snapped her head towards Korra. "Slag him please?" she said sweetly.

"Yes ma'am." Korra obeyed and tossed a singularity at the nomad again. The grenade covered Asami in slag as well but she didn't seem affected by it at all. It didn't even stick.

"As a matter of fact lets kick this up to fifteen." Asami growled. Black and purple bolts of lightning circled around both her arms. Her hair waved in the personal storm she created. 

The air in the cave was filled with static. Korra bit her lip as all the fine hairs on her body stood up. It was still hella terrifying to see Asami go Super Siren but kinda cool to see death about to rain down on someone else.

"Is that what she was gonna do to you?" Tina asked, totally slack jawed.

"No, I was gonna get ten." Korra muttered, her eyes wide in awe.

The nomad was frantic. "No, wait, wait. Flesh Stick he's in hiding at the camp, right over there! Across the river! Please don't kill me."

"Son of a bitch is right next door." Tina snapped. 

Asami turned towards Tina and Korra, her eyes were glowing so intensely that she left trails of light as she turned her head. "What should I do with him?"

"I say kill him, that way Twiggles can have nightmares about you killing her." Tina chirped.

"N-no!" the nomad shrieked.

"W-what...?" Korra stammered. 

"That's not a bad idea," Asami smirked. She slowly brought her hand closer and closer his side right under his heart. The bounty hunter was sweating bullets, Tina was bouncing with anticipation and the nomad was screaming bloody murder.

Suddenly a huge plume of thick black smoke erupted from the glove. Korra nearly fainted in relief. Tina's whole expression sunk and Asami was a blushing red ball of embarrassment. 

The bounty hunter took the initiative, before Asami could miraculously turn her glove back on, and loaded the nomads head full of flaming pistol rounds. Pretty clean kill, too. The flaming rounds instantly cauterized the wounds.

"You didn't want to see him electrocuted but you're fine with igniting/blowing his brains out." Tina rose an eyebrow. 

"I did until you people decided you wanted to make this a Korra test run!" Korra sighed as she sheathed her smoking pistol. 

"Korra, you're much smaller than that guy, you would require a lot less power." Asami shook her hand, then inspecting her glove for damages. 

"Where the fuck are the Vault Hunters?" Korra sighed.

Asami removed her glove, checking for any scorch marks. Korra caught a glimpse of purple covering the back of her hand. More than likely the tattoos. The bounty hunter caught herself staring, she'd never actually seen Asami's hands before. They were like, beautiful. She has these long slender fingers and her skin looks soft. Her palms probably feel like damn sandpaper with all the work she does. The bounty hunter almost couldn't believe she was fawning over a hand. But it's gorgeous death Siren Asami's hands so it made more sense. 

She's always wearing some type of gloves, likely to cover the tattoos. She's been a lot less secretive about it lately too. But it would make sense she didn't know about her powers before, but now they're hella ridiculous and she has a measure of control of them so she can fight back in case Jack and his homies come at her.

And, of course, she has the help of the best bounty hunter in the world.


	10. Majestic Beautiful Creatures

So, why does Tina call you Twiggles?" Asami asked leaning back against the wall of a tunnel along the the side walkway of Tundra Express railroad. The sun peeked in and out of the clouds that patched bright blue sky, something easily forgotten about on Pandora. Asami had her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms folded on top of them and her chin on top of her arms.

"She used to call me Ostwick, then Ozzy, Twix, and eventually Twiggles." Korra replied lazily. She laid out on her back with her legs crossed. One arm propped up the back of her head the other rested on her stomach. She laid her Venom beside her in very convenient range of her hands and laid her pistol on her chest.

"Very intimidating for an enforcer of your caliber." Asami purred.

"I thought so too." the bounty hunter let out a long sigh. "Does anybody even know when this train is supposed to come?"

"Some time mid-afternoon," the siren groaned.

"Waiting is gonna get boring." Korra yawned. "Ask me something."

"Korra, no." Asami breathed a laugh.

"What else are we gonna do? Take naps?" Korra huffed. "Well that's actually not a bad idea."

"I'm not like you, I can't just sleep anywhere." the siren lowered one of her legs.

"Well, ask something. I'm bored."

"Well if I ask you something that means you'll have to ask me something."

"I'll answer honestly if you do."

"You promise?"

"I swear. Not to mention you asked a question about Tina so I'm giving you a free question."

"Fine," Asami turned to the bounty hunter, still comfortably laid on her back. "Why don't you kill stalkers?"

"They are beautiful majestic creatures. They should be protected at all costs." Korra smiled. "And they aren't all gross looking like mongs and skags. On a scale of one to ten, how great of a kisser am I?"

"How did I know?" Asami shook her head. "And I have to be honest? "

"Yes ma'am." Korra chirped.

"Probably a solid 8.89" Asami rested her chin back on her arms.

"Your body language suggests that you may be hiding a blush, so either you're lying or 8.9 must be much higher than what Athena scored." Korra smiled. "Which is it?"

"Not your turn," Asami teased. "Why are my powers so scary to you?"

"Burns heal but electric damage is internal and usually irreversible. If I had a shock gun I'd probably only use it if I didn't want to kill someone, but torture them. And they murder shields." Korra shrugged.

"You, not only are terrible at hiding your powers, or maybe I'm just really perceptive I dunno, but your powers just get more outwardly dangerous looking. You can, freaking, generate black electricity. Not to mention you literally chased me down with your powers. So, yeah. Your powers are scary. But awesome to watch you use."

"I won't chase you down if you don't give me reason to." the siren shifted a bit, turning her body toward the blue eyed hunter.

"Okay, fair enough," Korra said simply. "I will return to my question about Athena's kissing score."

"She was probably a 5," the mechanic shrugged. Her eyes narrowed a bit. "Why do you need to know these things?"

"Is that a question you want an honest answer to or...?" Korra trailed.

"Um..., yeah." Asami hesitated. She was almost afraid of what she would hear.

Korra let out a heavy sigh. She pushed herself upright and slid back against the tunnels stone wall. Her head tilted to the side slightly and she kinda stared into the sky with an open mouthed smile.

It made Asami a bit more uneasy that Korra had to prep herself to say whatever she was about to say. She's usually so certain about anything that comes out of her damn mouth.

Korra turned to Asami with the same slightly open mouthed smile. She took a few seconds before she spoke. "...Well, Athena, and occasionally your father, seem to be areas of aggravation for you. And since Athena is an ex, if I want to pursue you, which I honestly do, I'd like to know what exactly went wrong. Now, I like you too much to just up and leave you. Not to mention that you and Tina are my better friends of anyone I know. And I won't walk out on my friends unless you give me no choice.

"And frankly, Asami, you're the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on, probably the nicest stoic hardass on Pandora, and you've got kickass powers. You're intelligent, which is rare, you wear your electric heart on your sleeve, and you do all you can for people you care about. You're an incredible person. I'm lucky to have met you. And whenever all this shit blows over so there isn't so much on your plate, I'd totally want to date you if your sexuality allows at the time."

Korra smiled after the last part. She stared at her pistol in her lap, not quite ready to see a physical response yet. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up at Asami, whose face was red.

"Aw, come on you already know I like you." Korra stammered.

"Yeah, but geez!" Asami shouted.

"Did Athena say something like that to you?" Korra rose an eyebrow.

"Not at all." Asami smiled.

"Was it better?" Korra's eyes narrowed, her face only missing her outstretched lip to being a full blown pout.

"She never really said anything like that. She didn't really do affection." Asami stared into her fidgeting hands. "I didn't really care then, I was just happy to be away from my father."

"Well do you feel the same way about me? That is my official question." Korra asked quickly.

"More or less." Asami smiled. "You've grown on me. You've show an impressive amount of mastery of what you do, which I like a lot. You're a lot easier to get along with than most people in your profession, you can control your mindlessness which is, again, impressive. But most of all you're really sweet when you want to be. You're an admirable person, you're brutally honest and I actually feel reasonably safe with you."

"Reasonably?" Korra shifted. "I saved your ass from bandits twice!"

"Could've been done better." Asami teased. "Um, what's your favorite color?"

"Blue, but lately I've been moving towards changing it to green." Korra winked.

"Corny, and sadly, I'm sure that's true." Asami giggled.

"It very much is." the bounty hunter stood causing her pistol to fall onto the walkway. Her face twisted a bit as she leaned back to stretch. "Why don't you carry a gun?"

"That's what you're for." the siren crossed her legs, taking off her glove and dropping it in between.

"I only have these two," The elementalist reached down for both guns, holding one in each hand. She turned towards the tracks, skipping across each rail and sat crossed legged in front of Asami. She laid her machine gun at her side and put her pistol back in its holster.

"Once we actually get some Eridium I can make you more." Asami's tone was nearly sympathetic. She looked down at her glove. Slight disappointment was on her face as she eyed the round purple globe bulb on the back of it. "Just want to get this thing working right first."

Korra reached a hand into Asami's lap just over the glove as if silently asking for permission. Asami nodded and watched as Korra carefully picked up the glove. Her eyes explored the glove, just like she did at the bar when she was shown the Hyperion soldiers armor.

"This damn thing is heavy," the bounty hunter mused. She flipped it over and back about three times before she actually started to put her hand in it but stopped again, looking up at Asami.

"Go ahead," the mechanic allowed. Her voice was soft and she spoke so only Korra could hear... because of course no one else was anywhere near them, but if someone were around Korra would be exclusively hearing Asami right now. She watched as Korra carefully slid her hand in the glove. The siren sneakily moved her hand to touch Korra's elbow, shocking her with a bit of static.

Korra jumped damn near to her feet, dropping the glove on the walkway with a loud clang. She shuffled backwards on her hands, clawing desperately for her SMG.

"I'm sorry! Oh my god!" Asami howled. She threw her head back and laughed, cackled, even snorted. She dropped her head, cradled her aching stomach and took in a breath enough to catch Korra's expression; somewhere between confused and pissed. The sirens eyebrows flared, almost about to start another fit of laughter but forced a cough to clear her throat.

"I-I'm sorry. I apologize, that was mean." Asami attempted to form a straight face.

"Fuck. You." Korra shook her head slowly as she pulled her legs back underneath her, crossing them again. "And your damn glove."

Asami picked up the glove and handed it to Korra. "No, I won't shock you this time. Here."

"No." blue eyes closed as the bounty shook her head again.

"I'm sorry, Korra." Asami snickered and dropped the glove back in her lap as she leaned back against the tunnel wall. "Are we still friends?"

"Nope," Korra folded her arms.

"Damn, that sucks." Asami sighed.

"Yeah it does... Asshole."

"Any way I can reconcile this?"

"Nah,"

"You positive?"

"Show me your tattoos."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I always wanted to see. But I figured you never wanted to show them off."

"And this is what needs to be done so that we can be friends again?"

"Yes."

"Ugh! Fine... Get over here." Asami quickly unzipped her jacket, trying to avoid any unintentionally sexy moments. She pulled her arm out of its sleeve and out into the cool air.

Korra crawled next to her, leaving her Venom on the walkway in front of them. Asami held her arm out as she was getting situated. Korra placed a hand under Asami's palm and another under her elbow she traced the purple etchings all the way up to her shoulder then back down.

"These are pretty cool." Korra inspected.

Asami couldn't quite put to words what made Korra so attractive when she looks at things like this; that look just like when she was shown the Hyperion soldiers armor model, eyes wide and focused. She could tell that Korra still probably wanted to put the glove on just to fuel her curiosity.

"This is definitely Eridian. I saw the ruins in the headlands where Dahl was drilling and this is super similar to what was all over the walls there." Blue eyes met green as Korra caught a glimpse of Asami's tender stare. They both froze for a moment too long before the hunter tore her eyes away and back to Asami's tattoos.

Korra became a bit more aware of Asami's slender fingers against her hand. Her glance moved down the Sirens arm, following every pattern and taking in every intricate detail. Her eyes arrived at their hands, the circular symbols seemed connected. Smaller lines led to other circles which led down her fingers individually. Almost like the tattoos were some type of circuitry.

"Looks like you noticed it, too." Asami said softly. "If you'd have put the glove on, you'd have felt the steel rods inside that align with these symbols. I've been trying to find how it's supposed to work and I've been making progress, but I keep shorting the gloves out."

"Level fifteen should be enough." Korra found herself again lost in pools of green. And again she found herself lingering too long. Long enough that she realized she had begun stroking Asami's knuckles. Her eyes widened slightly as she placed her thumb back under the Siren's tattooed hand. She bashfully looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, uh..."

"It's okay," red lips curled into a smile as Asami reassuringly closed her hand around Korra's.

"I, uh.... Okay then," Korra shrugged with a grin. She wrapped her thumb back around the Siren's slender hand. They weren't soft but they weren't rough. They felt... used, almost worn. The bounty hunter shifted her fingers under Asami's to get a better feel, but worn felt like a good description.

Asami liked how Korra is just a huge contradiction. This hardened hunter had incredibly soft hands for what she does. Fighting wild creatures and making her own clothes and gear when possible, not to mention the chick prefers to sleep in trees or on rocks which likely requires climbing. There was a small callous in her palm but that's exactly what it was, small. Korra's thumb running along her knuckles was surprisingly soothing. Especially since she had been the only person to touch Asami's hands since before her mother died. A small smile spread across her lips.

"So you said when all this is over you wanted to go out, right?" Asami turned to Korra, who was still focused on their hands.

"Yes ma'am." Korra replied.

"Why not now?" the Siren asked.

Korra looked up at Asami briefly, then moved her other hand from her elbow to replace the other as she slid herself against the tunnel wall. "I don't know if you know but, I can be pretty selfish."

"Oh, I didn't know that at all." Asami snorted.

"Hush, please." the bounty hunter nudged the sirens shoulder. "I don't want all this Eridium and Handsome Jack and Vault nonsense interfering with us. I want the most attention from you that I can get."

"You pretty much get all my attention now." Asami answered.

"I want it on purpose. You're only out here or a potential train full of Eridium. Granted part of the reason I came was to hang with Tina, but, I dunno. I just want you to myself. Where I may not have to carry a gun." Korra shrugged.

"Fair enough, but what if one of us dies?" Asami tone was grim.

"Well unless someone blows my damn brains out, which won't fucking happen, I'm registered with Hyperion's NewU things. So I can be gravely injured but reconstructed. I won't die but I'll feel all the pain." Korra grinned slightly. "Aren't you?"

"Nope, I swore off all Hyperion products as soon as my dad sold out to them." the Siren hissed.

"So I just have to keep you alive. No problem." Korra shifted her hand and laced her fingers between Asami's.

"If Jack finds out I'm a Siren it'll be hard." Asami whispered.

"You're worth it." Korra cringed at how cliche that was.

"Yeah, that was so corny." Asami giggled.

Suddenly the walkway began to rumble. Soft clicking sounds and a bit of a draft came from the opening in the tunnel.

Korra clicked the comm in her ear. "Tina!"

"What up?" Tina crackled through the earpiece.

"Train's coming. Get your bitches ready." Korra replied a bit too nonchalantly.

"...What?" Asami rose an eyebrow.

"I got these weirdos on it now. Out, homie." Tina replied quickly.

"Peace." Korra closed the comm and turned to Asami. "Her favorite rockets."

"Oh, you two are idiots." the siren shook her head.

"The best idiots." Korra sighed as she slid her hand from Asami's and stood up. "Come on, lets go get your shiny rocks."

Asami stood, placing her arm back inside her jacket and watched Korra lift her gun off the walkway. She wrapped the leather strap around her shoulders the gun rested securely across her perfectly sculpted back. _Shit is gonna hit the fan after this, the Vault hunters are about to directly attack Jack and we'll be caught in the middle. So..., whatever_. Asami thought as she approached Korra. She grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around and planted her lips on the bounty hunters. But Korra broke the kiss.

"What the hell?" Korra spat.

"But, what? I, uh." Asami was flustered to say the least.

"I thought you of all people would never do something like that. I was expecting some smooth, elegant kiss and you just, like, threw yourself on me." Korra smiled.

"You're a jerk, and an idiot." Asami sighed.

"Your future jerk and idiot." Korra replied quietly as she placed her hands around Asami's waist. "Don't run me into anything, okay?"

"I'll try."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for the fluff. I'm somewhat terrible at writing it but... I attempted.


	11. Strong Sense of Hell Nope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating every other day isnt hard at all. It sactually fun. I finished this one up early and it gave me a bit of time to start on a new fic i had an idea for. Dunno if any of you watched IGPX back in the (10 years ago) day but there may be an au coming. Soonish

Why the hell am I doing all the running?" Korra asked as she chased after a smoldering train.

"Because, if I die we can't be together, dear." Asami's smile was audible through the crackling of the ECHO comms. The siren took Mordecai's place atop the high mountain in the center of Tundra Express.

"I should've near said anything about the NewU system, should've kept my damn mouth shut." Korra hurdled over broken rails and burning boards as she sprinted through the path the train carved. Singed tree branches hung over the small snowy path that seemed to open up into a clearing surrounded by trees. Korra intended to hurry before the Vault hunters began picking through the area. Even though they were only looking for a Vault Key, they usually take whatever else they find along with it.

Korra proceeded carefully, there were footprints in the snow ahead of her. She scrambled behind a nearby tree and peeked around it, examining the prints. They didn't look like shoes or feet, or any creatures she's familiar with. She lowered her brow, trying to figure what would leave prints like that.

"Are you okay out in the snow with nothing on your arms?" Asami voice crackled through Korra's communicator.

"Yeah, gimme a second, Asami." Korra whispered.

She heard garbled, robotic voices from around the tree. Whirring and hissing suggested that they were moving around. Korra quickly began to climb the branches to get a better look of her surroundings. Luckily the tree was just large enough to hide in even with no leaves. About five robots and a few soldiers scouted the area. They don't look at all perplexed about the train being blown up, they just looked ready to defend themselves.

"If this Vault Key was on the train they'd be trying to look for it," Korra thought aloud. She continued scanning the area. Two overturned train cars, still connected, were right behind the company of Hyperion watch dogs.

"I found two train cars, but I'm pinned." Korra whispered to Asami. "Can you see me? Wait shouldn't you be telling me where the cars are and if they have Eridium? You have x-ray vision!"

"But that would take away from all the fun you're having." Asami beamed. "Besides, there's a limit to how far I can see without using Eridium. But... I can see you, I think. No, you aren't that short. The Vault Hunters are coming in."

"That's good. They can kill these things and I'll check the train cars while they all fight." the bounty hunter turned, looking down the path she just walked and found a little man with a rocket launcher and a.... sniper rifle in either hand howling as he opened fire into the first robots he saw, a black robot alien thingy appeared and sliced at the soldiers armor with a… sword. The Siren and another heavily armored guy who threw a ball that turned to a gun turret and stuck itself to a tall tree ran in behind. Korra took her opportunity.

She swung down from the tree and dashed behind other broken components of the train for cover. She seemed to just miss a bit of stray gunfire as she dashed between the open spaces. The Vault hunters were quickly reducing Hyperion's numbers as she darted behind and peeked over a pair of train seats. She soon heard the high pitched whistling of reinforcements being sent down from the moon base.

"God damn." Korra breathed as a badass loader was dropped right in front of her cover. The loader didn't seem to notice and marched forward toward the Vault hunters. Korra used the confusion to begin her final dash toward the train. Snow crunched beneath her feet as she sprinted until it... didn't. Her feet were still moving but not touching the ground.

She quickly found herself caught in a ball of purple...stuff that held her suspended in the air right behind this giant ass loader. She could hear shots bounce off the front of the robot, some just barely missed her. The loader whirred, beeped and buzzed behind her as it eventually was shot to oblivion. The orb of purple light began to dissipate, Korra also found gravity was beginning to work again and almost as quickly as she had been picked up, she was dropping back to the ground.

Korra turned with her gun drawn, ready for a fight, or better yet ready to buy some time before running. She had a feeling not meeting the Vault hunters was a bad idea. The bounty hunter landed squarely, ready to try to blaze a path. The badass loader crumpled over and slammed into the ground leaving a powdery snow mist that covered her. Once it cleared the Vault hunters had already moved on.

The elementalist let out a huge sigh of relief and headed into the toppled train cars. "Asami!" Korra called.

"Yes?" Asami answered sweetly.

"I hate your people." Korra grumbled as she dug through the mess inside the car, it looks like a passenger car on the outside but was a mostly empty freight car. She still scanned for any glowing rocks before she kicked open the door to the next car and climbed through.

"I know, what caused this outburst of emotion?" Asami replied.

"That chick Maya caught me with that Siren ball thingy." Korra whined as she looked through the much busier train car there were actually a few blocks of Eridium on the floor. She picked them up and tucked them into a bag that she had secured around her waist. "I’ve also found some Eridium."

"You got in a fight with the Vault hunters? And all four of them?" Asami nearly shouted.

"Hell no!" Korra shouted back. "Look, its a long story, but I'll fill you in when I'm done. There's a lot going on over here."

"Alright, alright." Asami verbally retreated. "Let me know when you're on your way back, okay?"

"Will do." Korra replied and closed her comm. Korra smiled to herself. "She's actually worried about me."

The bounty hunter dug around further and found a total of five whole blocks of Eridium. She placed the rest of her findings in the bag and moved on. There were another few train cars ahead and she searched those, too. The sound of screaming, explosions and high caliber rounds echoed through the woods as Korra searched. She peeked out of every car, keeping track of the Vault hunters movements and trying not to cross paths with them again.

Korra eventually arrived at a small cliff, jumped down and carefully walked forward. The sounds of battle sounded extremely close as she walked a bit further finding the Vault hunters fighting a gigantic loader, a handful of smaller loaders and two surveyor robots flying around. There were a few more train cars behind all the mess but Korra felt a strong sense of hell nope building inside.

Korra about-faced quickly and climbed back up the snow covered cliff. "Hey Salami?"

"Oh god, not you too." Asami shook her head. "What is it?"

"I've got all I can get. I'm coming back." Korra began to sprint back through the snow.

"Okay. I'm gonna head back to Sanctuary, meet me there?'

"Why not just wait for me and we can go together?" Korra smirked.

"Okay, that works too." Asami replied.

"I wanna be the one to tell Moxxi this time. I’m not gonna let you runn of and tell her your Siren lies." Korra huffed as she kicked up think snow.

"Funny thing is, I told her I'd tell you. Whenever I tell her that I don't want you to know something, you always find out on your own."

"You're an open book."

"You read between the lines."

"It's double spaced."

"The font is small."

"The spacing is not."

"Just get back here, Korra."

"I'm halfway there already."

* * *

 

"And then she just, like, grabs me, spins me around and slams her lips on mine. And where I definitely enjoy and appreciate the gesture, I'd expect the belle of Future Industries to sweep me off my feet just a bit, you know?" Korra laughed then downed half a glass of apple juice. "I swept her off hers, though. She even called me 'dear' after."

"Is this true?" Moxxi turned to Asami who shook her head as she sat with a hand wrapped around her glass full of water.

"Yeah, she very elegantly made up for my terrible misstep," Asami smirked.

"Good to see you two were finally able to tell each other how you felt and not me." Moxxi purred.

"Yeah, but beside all that, Korra actually found some Eridium." the siren added. "I can finally start some solid research and maybe, just maybe, try to duplicate Hyperion's E-Tech at Atlas quality."

"Sounds awesome." Korra grinned, sipping more juice.

"Hopefully it will be. Also I hope I can get my glove to hold all this electricity." The siren balled her gloved fist one finger at a time.

"Well, maybe if you--" Korra began but was abruptly cut off by a loud crashing noise, followed shortly by a few more.

"What the hell?" Korra jumped to her feet and headed out the door. "You two stay here."

"Korra, wait!" Asami started after her. Korra was already well down the street and almost to HQ. A blue-hot blast of plasma energy crashed into the ground between them Asami threw her glove over her face to protect from the blast.

"Asami, please, just get back inside and stay with Moxxi." Korra yelled over the barrage of mortar fire as she rounded the corner. Everyone in town was outside HQ, from Raiders to the Vault hunters. Korra pushed through the crowd find Roland, Lilith and Scooter.

"You've got your orders Scooter, move!" Roland barked.

"What the hell is happening?" Korra asked as the barrage continued to rain down on Sanctuary, a few blasts landing nearby.

"We were tricked, Jack found a way to lower our shields, so now we're using an emergency escape plan." Roland was pretty calm in the face of literal hell breaking loose all around them. That made him a good leader.

"Get me some Eridium!" Lilith pressed her hands against the generator in the middle of the city as purple light pulsed around the generator. Korra followed Roland into HQ, upstairs, and into a back room that had always been locked. They grabbed as much as they could before another mortar blasted chunks of the rear wall into the room and covered the rest of the Eridium and Roland.

"Get that stuff to Lilith! I'll radio the Vault Hunters." Roland commanded. Korra nodded and ran out through the war room and leapt off the balcony. She landed and rolled over her shoulder and brought the armful of Eridium to Lilith.

"Just set it right there! The other hunters are bringing the rest." Lilith ordered.

Korra laid down what she had next to Lilith and stood back. She had had enough firsthand experience with Sirens today.

"Korra!" Asami yelled.

Korra spun around. "I told you to stay with Moxxi! It's raining fucking fire and brimstone out here."

"I want to help. I've seen too many towns fall to Jack I'm not gonna let him take another." Asami replied. "I've got a prototype glove so I'm not defenseless."

"Why can't you just listen to me?" Korra sighed. She turned as the Vault hunters  
arrived with more Eridium. Lilith quickly took it.

"I've never used this much. Hold onto something." Lilith and the Eridium began to glow.

Korra took another precautionary step back. Asami stood next to Korra, studying how Lilith was using the Eridium. She's never really seen Lilith do much since up until recently she had been defending Sanctuary as the Firehawk. This was the first she's seen another Siren use Eridium.

The purple light expanded up the long pointed generator. Asami's eyes followed and caught a plume of blue fire in her periphery hurling right where she and Korra stood.

Korra quickly turned to cover Asami. Asami raised her gloved hand and a thin, glowing, purple layer created a round surface around her glove that absorbed the blast. She then found her whole body covered in rippling purple light. Suddenly all she could see was a flash of bright white light and then...

"T-Bone Junction?" the siren rose an eyebrow.

"What the hell just happened?" Korra asked, still covering Asami.

"Sorry, kid. That was an accident. I'll see you on the other side, I promise." Lilith's voice crackled over the comms. Korra closed hers.

"I've been affected by three out of six possible Sirens in one day!" Korra threw up her hands.

"But how did we get here of all places?" Asami pondered. "Maybe that shield thing had something to do with it. Or the Eridium we were carrying." The mechanic placed a hand over her chin and smelled the smoke of yet another fried electric glove.

"You burn those out pretty often." Korra rose an eyebrow.

"Scooters got an old shop here. I can try to fix it up there."

"Where are we?" Korra asked, looking around at the small highway town. Looked pretty abandoned, tumbleweeds and old papers blew along potholed streets. An unlit sign to Scooter's old shop squeaked in the breeze. It looked like it could come detached from the building at any moment. There's was a roundabout that housed a bar and the disabled bounty board to the left of Scooter's. To the right were a few unmarked buildings. Further down that street an incline led to one of Marcus' shops. Do they all move around together?

"T-Bone Junction. It was an old motor town colonized by Atlas." Asami started down the roadway towards Scooter's shop. "After everything with Athena, and Fort Knoxx being destroyed…, and Atlas pulling completely out of the planet. The city was left with no power or supplies. Everyone up and left. Not even the bandits stuck around.”

“Geez,” Korra whistled. “This place seemed like it was pretty nice too.” The bounty hunter followed close behind as the Siren led them to Scooter’s old abandoned garage. Asami grabbed the lever to open the steel door but it wouldn’t budge. Rust looked like it was setting in.

“Hey, you’ve got muscles. Open this.” Asami faced Korra and gestured a thumb at the door.

“I’m not just some slab of meat you can order around.” Korra pouted as she grabbed onto the door handle.

“That’s exactly what I hired you to be.” Asami hummed. “Meat slab with gun.”

“You’ve only paid me once!” Korra grunted as she pulled on the handle.

“And you gave it all to Moxxi by accident.” the Siren laughed.

“I-I did not!” Korra stammered as the handle began to budge until the door slowly clicked. Korra pushed the door but it still wouldn’t open.

“What’s wrong?” the folded her arms.

“Door still stuck boss. Duh, what do?” Korra mock drawled.

“Use your brain, slab.” Asami snorted.

Korra paused with her mouth wide open, eyes distant and unfocused, still playing along with Asami’s muscle head thing. “Ah, okay! I get it, boss.” Korra backed away from the door and stood in the middle of the street. She kicked a foot up behind her, catching it in her hands and stretched. She did the same with her other foot. She bounced her head side to side a few times and then lowered it bending down.

“Oh, dear…” Asami shook her head. “You’ll go this far to prove a point?”

“One…, twoooooo…,” Korra paused. “Uhhhhh…”

“Three?” Asami sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah! Three!” Korra broke off into a sprint, a pretty fast one considering she was fully bent over. She stepped up the curb and headed full speed into the door. She slowed no more than about two feet from it, standing completely upright. She quickly planted a foot, spun around, kicked the door open, and walked inside with balled fists: all in one smooth motion. “I can’t believe you were gonna let me fucking do that!” Korra yelled using her normal tone of voice.

“I was wondering if you were really gonna do it or not.” Asami laughed. She could almost see the intense pout across Korra’s face.

“There are still vehicles here. There’s like a monster truck and a small runner.” the bounty hunter called as she entered the garage.

Asami walked inside looking over the vehicles. Nothing was really in either of those cars that could help with the glove, and from the barrenness of the garage, it seems Scooter took all his tools to Sanctuary with him. He certainly left a mess behind. Oil stains and candy wrappers were all over. “This place is trashed.” the Siren sighed. “I can’t use anything here.”

“Well, let’s go for a ride and see what we can find anywhere else around here.” Korra chirped as she jumped into the runner, of course.

“Do you have the keys? Does it have gas? Does the runner even operate?” Asami protested as she began rummaging through the desk toward the back of the garage. She was halted once she heard Korra start the engine and rev it loudly.

“Duuuh, can I dwive, boss?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kond of a foller chapter. I want to probably end this around chapter 18 it was initially 15 but none of the big things i want to happen woll fit within that time. Stay tuned!


	12. It Was The Bobblehead Wasn't It?

Is it reeeeeal now? When two peeeeeeeopleeee become one." Korra squealed. Her now untied hair flowed in the wind as she sang along to the cd in the radio of the racer they 'borrowed' from Scooter. "Who knew Scooter likes Elpis pop music? This is like my favorite song!" Korra nodded her head as she drove along the long highway roads.

Asami perched her arm on top of her door and stared out at the canyon they drove over. She had heard a lot about this place but hadn't actually been. The most she's heard was from Athena and Moxxi and, of course, the stories were very different. Korra expertly swerved around a blown up monster class vehicle which pulled Asami's attention away from the canyon walls. She looked over at Korra, and her glorious, majestic flowing hair, who was nodding her head so hard she couldn't believe she could still--

"Though I'd never see!" She yelled along with the music. "The love you found in me! Now it's changing all the time." Korra shot a quick glance at Asami and wiggled her eyebrows before flailing her head around again. "Living in a rhythm where the minutes' working overtime."

"We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it." Asami sung along. The mechanic checked the maps before they left town: it was gonna be a long damn drive. Might as well have fun with this doofus, right? "Always pushing up the hill searching for the thrill of it."

Korra shot a quick, wide toothy grin at the Siren before turning back to the now much more car-part riddled road. "On, and on, and on we are calling out and out again."

"Never looking down, I'm just in awe of what's in front of me." they both looked shot quick glances at each other. Korra smirked and winked before looking back at the littered road. Asami blushed and looked away with a smile. She nodded her head along with the music, which, now that she gave it more attention, was great cruising music.

Korra quieted down, she still nodded her head but nowhere near as aggressively. A smile settled onto her face as she drove around more broken up car parts. "There's a ramp up ahead."

"It may not be stable." Asami answered, tapping to the beat on the top of the door. “But you probably don’t care.”

“I do,” Korra insisted. “I’ll go check first.” 

Korra slowed the car to a stop near the edge of the roadway and climbed out of the vehicle. The ramp looked like a broken piece of armor plating, likely from one of these old monster wrecks. A tire and a pipe held it up. Korra tiptoed onto it and jumped up and down. It didn't budge. She put a bit more force behind her landing as she bounced again and it still didn't move. She nodded with approval as she turned back and headed for the racer but paused mid stride. Her brow lowered, her eyes narrowed and her bottom lip started to slide out from under the top. A quite handsome gentleman had appeared and was talking to Asami. And. Asami. Was. Smiling. Korra began to storm towards the racer. "Hey there, guy. What's your name?"

Asami snapped her head toward Korra, the handsome fellow did the same. His amber eyes met the bounty hunters and he smiled uneasily. His hair was slicked back neatly and he wore some distinctive red and black armor that looked like it was missing a helmet.

"Hi, I'm General Iroh II. I was part of the Crimson Lance until Atlas abandoned us all here. I was hoping you guys could help me out. I got stuck out here and don't have a vehicle and its too far to walk back to town--" the guy spoke in an oddly young sounding voice.

"Asked for a name, that's all. Why are you talking to the lovely lady in the vehicle?" Korra barked as she reached the side of the racer. She could see Asami shaking her head in the passenger's seat. 

"She was the first person I saw. I'm camped underneath the overpass and I heard the car." Iroh explained.

"The Crimson Lance was disbanded years ago. Most of them joined the Crimson Raiders and are in Sanctuary. Why not you?" Korra growled.

"I, uh. I wanted to get out of here, but the walk is too far and all the cars are broken." Iroh took a defensive step back.

"Korra, leave the poor guy alone." Asami sighed.

"But Asami, my dear, sweet, future girlfriend, I want to know why it's taking 'General' Iroh here 2 years to walk what we drove in ten minutes." Korra replied sweetly to Asami and then continued to glare daggers at Iroh. "You don't look hurt, or hungry you're hardly even dirty, and you actually smell good! I only know of two people who actually smell good on his planet and you were flirting with one of them while I was inspecting this damn ramp for safety."

Asami leaned her chair back as far as she could and covered her face. "Let me know when this is over."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know she was... Queued to be taken? She was just telling me that she was pansexual and I just wanted to know what the hell that meant!" Iroh held up incredibly clean hands in defense.

Korra nodded thoughtfully, looked back up at Iroh and then to her grubby hands covered in dirt and oil. And she recently showered when they got back to Sanctuary. She nodded again before sliding across the hood of the racer and swiftly punching Iroh in the face. Iroh collapsed to the ground with a high pitched squeal and quickly curled into a ball. His entire pale face quickly reddened.

"How were you even a General? Get up and fight me before I kill you." Korra demanded as she stood over Iroh's body.

"I'm sorry." Iroh cowered on the ground. "I'm just wearing the armor. I was named after my grandfather who used to be a--"

...Korra just shot him.

The bounty hunter walked back around to the racers drivers seat and backed the car up aligning it with the ramp. She restarted the song playing on the radio as she stepped on the accelerator and peeled off towards the ramp. Asami's face was still covered as she laid back in the seat.

"Walking on a dream." Korra pretty much shouted. "You might actually wanna sit up now Asami-- How can I explain?"

"How did I get caught up in--"

"Talkin' to myself!" Korra shouted along as she accelerated straight into the ramp as the racer flew through the air and landed with a thud. Korra fought a bit to keep control of the car but eventually straightened it back out. She looked over at Asami who had turned on her side to brace for the impact. Korra turned the music down. "Are you upset that I killed that dude?"

"He was the only attractive male on the planet that I've ever seen." Asami groaned. "He would've made gorgeous children."

"It's taken him years to walk back to T-Bone Junction. I don't think you want those qualities in your kids." Korra grumbled. "Besides, He seemed familiar to me. Like if I had let him live, he'd have been a source of emotional anguish for long periods of time. I'm also sticking to my theory of him being very suspiciously clean."

"You were afraid that you'd have some competition?" Asami laughed.

"You've already promised you'd be with me. We're practically together now! I just respect that this is a troubling time for you and that you've sucked me into this." Korra explained.

"You've sucked Korra's what?" Moxxi's voice filled both of their heads.

"I thought I turned this damn thing off..." Korra sighed.

"Hey Moxxi." Asami said, ignoring the barkeeps last comment.

"Hey, yourself. What the hell happened to you two?" Moxxi asked.

"Lilith teleported us all the way out to T-Bone Junction." Asami replied. "We're heading to the Red Light to try to find some tools to fix my glove...again."

"Judging by the music you've found Scooter's old racer. I had to peel that boy off of that damn thing." Moxxi chuckled. "Well, I wanted to check to make sure you guys hadn't off and eloped. Buuuuut, just throwing this out there, I've got a hidden room in the Red Light for guests who wanted to stay awhile. Of course no one ever did. That place was a literal deathtrap. The room is clean however, feel free to use it as you will."

"Oh, I simply cannot wait." Asami sighed. "Korra killed a guy who was flirting with me! And this guy was actually hot!"

"Smart. Eliminate the competition." Moxxi applauded.

"Told you." Korra smirked.

"'Kay, bye Moxxi." Asami said quickly. She had reached to close her communicator but Korra had hers off so she figured she should keep hers on. Her gaze fell on Korra, still slightly nodding her head to the music as she drove through an old Crimson Lance checkpoint. "You don't have anything to say? No smart, snide remarks?"

"Nah, I'm just following the signs." Korra smiled.

"Really?" Asami asked incredulously.

"Mmhmm," the bounty hunter hummed. "You'd expect me to, so, nope. You tend to like when I surprise you by being unpredictable." 

"How can you know something like that?"

"There's this way you smile. Like you have an 'lol okay, Korra' smile and then you have a 'hmmm,*heart eyes* okay, Korra' smile."

"What?" Asami smiled. Korra shot a quick glance at the Siren and turned back to the road.

"You also have a certain tone of voice that you can tell you're smiling. But that smile was a bit of both."

"What are the smiles like?" 

"The lol smile is, like, you look a bit confused but it was amusing to you. It's usually a big smile. The heart eyes smile is like you understand and appreciate it, you usually nod and its a narrow lip or limited teeth smile and your eyes narrow in a soft way. The one you just did? You looked comfortable. It looked like you were ready to laugh. Which I've only really seen you do around me and Moxxi."

"You've only seen me around you and Moxxi." 

"I've seen you with Scooter, Marcus, Roland and Lilith, Dr. Zed, those two Zaford slobs at that bar. You never happily speak with anyone but the two of us."

"Iroh."

"Iroh is diseased."

They drove through what looked like a cave that was purposed for the highway. The cave went on for a few seconds then opened back up into what looked like a dried up seabed. 

"Geez, this place is huge." Korra whistled.

"Yeah, hit this ramp up here, it's a shortcut to Moxxi's. You might need to use the boosters." Asami pointed to the button next to the stick shift.

A wide grin appeared over Korra's face as she lined the racer up with the ramp and slammed her palm on the booster. The racer jolted forward as flames burst out of the rear of the racer. The racer hit the ramp with a loud crack and flew through the air somewhat lopsided, likely breaking the ramp as they hit it. The front wheels hooked onto the broken overpass.

“Damn it, Korra!” Asami sighed.

“Hang on, I got it!” Korra quickly shifted the car back to its first gear and pushed against the accelerator. The front wheels skidded against the concrete and the car pulled slowly onto the highway but wouldn’t budge. “Jump out, hurry up.” Korra sighed patiently.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Asami sighed. The siren stood, climbing on top of the vehicle and safely hopping onto the solid piece of highway. She wasn’t worried because she knew regardless that Korra would find some way to be okay. Besides, with how Korra sounds, it seems like she’s done this before.

“Yeah, I got it.” Korra sounded more annoyed than worried. Korra pushed a bit more steadily on the accelerator pulling the racer as far up as it could go. Korra rolled her eyes and took a deep breath as she let the racer decelerate, causing it to slowly creep back over the edge.

“Uh, Korra?” Asami rose an eyebrow.

“I got it, it’s cool.” Korra shouted. The racers front wheel were just about off the road. The bounty hunter quickly turned the wheel and stomped on the gas as well as the booster. The booster shot the racer forward and swung it to the right, quickly bouncing back up the broken roadway with both drivers side wheels up on the road. Korra quickly jumped out and watched the racer lean back over the edge and crash with a loud, exaggerated explosion. “Under control.” Korra pulled the leather bag of Eridium over her shoulder as she approached Asami.

“You... I dunno what to say.” Asami shook her head.

“...Are incredible, amazing, wonderful, awe-inspiring, god damn awesome? I’ll accept any of those.” Korra smiled. Continuing down the roadway. 

“Sure,” Asami shrugged as she followed. 

_______

“This place doesn’t look much different than her spot in Sanctuary. ‘Cept here everyone’s actually dead.” Korra scanned the bloodied Red Light club. It was dimly lit with red lights. Blood and dead bodies littered the place, and with the lighting it made it somewhat hard to see. There was even a dead guy on the damn counter.  
“Only place of Moxxi's where there weren’t people all over the floor was in Concordia, but her place there was more of a dance club than a strip joint.” Asami’s face twisted from the smell.

“Have any idea where this secret room might be?” Korra yawned. She pulled the body off the counter and searched for any buttons or switches on or under it. 

“Tired?” the Siren teased as she pushed open a window to let the smell out.

“Well, Asami, today I captured a nomad, tied him up and semi interrogated him for one of Tina’s tea parties, was scared half to death by your damn stormbringer powers, got shocked and scared half to death again when I tried on your death glove, got sent after a very recently blown up train, got pulled into a Siren vortex after trying to sneak around Hyperion forces, had blue plasma mortars shot at me, got teleported out to the middle of nowhere, had to attempt to open and then kick down a steel door, drove down a long, seemingly never-ending highway where I had to shoot and kill someone trying to encroach on my future woman, had to keep a really cool racer from falling into the abyss and then lost the racer. Now I’m here and we’ll probably have to clean this place out because the fast travel isn’t up yet so we’ll probably end up here for the night, and it’s late as hell. Yes the hell I am tired.” Korra huffed.

Asami smiled warmly. She strolled over to Korra and pecked her cheek. “I appreciate all that.”

“I’m sure you do.” Korra mumbled, trying to fight the smile creeping onto her face. Korra pulled the bag of Eridium over her head and handed it to Asami. “You find the room, I’ll try to get these bodies out of here.”

Asami took the bag and watched Korra as she looked around the room, likely looking for a rug or something to put the bodies on and pull them out. She shook her head when Korra finally found one and started stacking corpses. Despite her rare protest, Korra didn’t show any signs of fatigue. She grabbed two dead guys, one for each shoulder, and threw them on the growing pile she was creating. 

The siren pulled her eyes off the bounty hunter as she continued to look for the switch or button, lever, trapdoor… whatever it was that led to this other room. Which hopefully was much cleaner. 

“Where would she put a secret room switch?” Asami though aloud. 

“Maybe you gotta put your finger down the throat of that Marcus bobble-head on the shelf.” Korra chuckled as she grabbed the end of her now fully loaded rug, complete with mountain of bodies.

“That wouldn’t surprise me.” Asami replied. “You need any help with that?”

“Nah, just find the room, I got it.” Korra grunted as she pulled the mountain out the door with a thud. Some the the bodies fell off but she quickly came back and dragged them out too.

Asami turned to the bobble head on the shelf behind the counter. It had a huge toothy grin, and his teeth were hinged. Asami rolled her eye as she lead a finger towards it’s hinged teeth which pushed open. Her finger pushed down a bit more, causing the bobbleheads head to tilt back. “Classic Moxxi.” Asami shook her head as she pressed further down, uncomfortably far down before she found the button. The wall behind the shelf clicked and popped slightly open. 

The mechanic pulled her finger free of Marcus' gaping maw of a mouth and pulled on the figurine to open the door. The room behind the shelf was much cleaner, shiny wooden floor, light blue walls, and a huge circle bed. This is probably where Moxxi slept when this place was… booming. Weapons fire and the the actual sound of a crackling fire echoed outside as Korra walked back in.

“It was the bobblehead wasn’t it?” Korra smirked. Asami nodded. “Classic Moxxi.”

Asami rolled her eyes as she kicked her shoes off at the shelf. She unzipped her jacket and hung it on top of the bobblehead. Korra kicked her boots off, unbuckled her harness and pulled her blood soaked Maliwan tank top off wiping her arms off and then throwing it on a cleaner part of the counter, revealing the wraps she had around her chest. She undid all the buckles around her legs and pulled her pants off and placed them next to her top. Her navy shorts hugged her thighs down to just above her knees. The bounty hunter yawned and stretched as she jogged, dove and sunk into the bed.

“What, the everloving fuck?” came Korra’s muted shout into the fluffy mattress. “This is the softest bed ever! I can’t sleep on this!” Korra grumpily rolled off the bed and onto the floor with a dull thud.

Asami actually could not have been happier that Korra jumped straight into the bed and then on the floor. Korra would’ve never let her live down the intense blush from watching her undress. The siren sat down on the bed, trying to hide her face. “So you can’t sleep anywhere.”

“No, I cannot.” Korra muttered into the floor, “I need some substance to sleep on. I feel like I might fall through that, or worse, I might need that weird back brace again.” Korra rolled over onto her back and sat up. She turned her head toward Asami who was laying on her back arms sprawled out on either side, staring at the ceiling. Korra could see red on the tip of her ear that peeked through her hair.

“Today was a long day.” she sighed. She turned to look at Korra who was staring at her tattooed hand.

“It was a pretty long day.” Korra repeated as she brought her hand up to place in Asami’s.

“Thanks for all of it, Korra.” the siren closed her hand around the bounty hunters. “You’re actually really useful.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Korra pouted.

Asami smiled, letting an unhidden blush cross her face.

“Oh, so you finally let me see you blush, huh?” Korra smiled. “I know you’ve been hiding it, the top of your ears are red.”

“Can’t hide anything from you.” Asami breathed, stroking Korra’s knuckles. “I still can’t believe you killed that guy.”  
“He was a threat. And too clean. How are you even completely clean on this planet? The water is hardly clean!” Korra grumbled. “And what the hell is a pansexual?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is called Walking on a Dream by Empire of the sun in case any one was wondering.


	13. Fluffy Death Bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was kinda weird cause whike i was writing the initial part of the chapter it got too long for what i wanted to do in the chapter so i wanted to split it up then realized that it really wasnt too long but still decided to split it anyway

Korra’s eyes eased open, hazy sunlight flowed in from the window and bathed a portion of the room. The floors shone annoyingly bright, causing her to pull her eyelids back together. She blinked a few times before letting them open again. Her legs started to move but she felt an added weight to them. She blinked a few more times and found herself sitting on the floor, leaned against the fluffy, evil bed. A familiar tattooed hand closed around her bicep. 

She leaned her head over and saw Asami’s peaceful, sleeping, beautiful face resting between her chest and shoulder. Korra found her own hands, one clamped just above Asami’s elbow and the other against her side. “Oh, no,” Korra smirked. “How'd this get so gay?” 

The bounty hunter let out a slow, silent sigh as she rested her chin on top of Asami’s head. Her hold around the Siren tightened a bit, trying not to stir her from her gorgeous sleep but also trying to pull her as close as possible before she does. Korra leaned her head forward placing a kiss to the top of Asami’s head. “Sleep for like, two more hours please. 'Cause, like, I can't be all mushy when you're conscious. And then you might think I actually like you." Korra whispered into soft wavy hair black hair.

Korra looked down at the Sirens purple markings lining her arm. She carefully ran her fingers across the tattoos. She traced a few of the more bolded lines up her arm and jumped a bit when she felt a twinge of static. The bounty hunter stopped for a second. She repeatedly went over the same spot again. Maybe that was something she could tell Asami that could help with the glove. Or maybe Asami just statics in her sleep. Either way, she wasn't able to trigger any more.

"I'm gonna try not to be afraid of this crazy electric tempest shit you got going on." Korra whispered a bit louder. "So be a bit patient with me on that, 'cause you're a scary mother fucker when you turn those powers on."

Korra felt Asami shift a bit with a small moan. Her hand slid from Korra's arm over to her chest. Asami gently bumped Korra's chin with the top of her head as she burrowed into the bounty hunter's neck. Korra was forced to take a deep staggered breath to keep her heart from jumping out of her chest. "Oh, no." Korra breathed.

She looked so peaceful sleeping like this. They've shared a bed before but Korra was always in bed and asleep before Asami was and she was never the first one up. Korra could feel Asami's breath tickling her neck.

"Well now I can't put my face in your hair." Korra whined. "And you're fucking tickling me. You're being incredibly rude right now." The bounty hunter fought a squirm with every slow, painfully long breath. She'd keep fighting them though, and, for now, without complaint. Anything for the stoic, asshole, brilliant, powerful mechanic in her arms. She leaned her head back against the incredibly soft circle bed with a smile.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this. Even less that I actually mean it, but I'm gonna do all I can to get you through whatever you need. Because this us thing needs to happen." Korra muttered.

"I agree."

Korra froze. A wash of red warmth covered her face. "How long have you been awake?" she gulped.

"Longer than you have." Asami's voice was still rasped with sleep. She hadn't moved yet, or even opened her eyes.

"Welp, I'm embarrassed." the bounty hunter sighed, dropping her head in disappointment. "Anything I said that you don't feel mutually about, I never said."

"Okay." Asami tilted her head, eyes still sleepily closed, placing a small kiss on Korra's jaw. 

"...So what didn't I say?" Korra asked quickly.

"Um, first of all, I'm not rude because you're ticklish." the Siren defended. "But I liked everything else. And I promise I won't tell Asami that you like her."

"Thanks. I don't think she'd let me live it down." the elementalist grinned. Eyelashes brushed against Korra's jaw, meaning that jade eyes were finally open. Too bad Korra couldn't see since Asami found comfort in resting her face on the side of her jaw. Fucking cute ass eye-hiding Siren.

Asami lifted a hand, running her fingers through dark brown hair, pulling a tuft from behind Korra's shoulders. "You know, I do actually like you too."

"Oh really?" Korra breathed, watching slender fingers comb through her hair.

"Mmhmm" the Siren hummed. "And it's weird just how much and in such little time. Like sometimes I wonder how the hell this happened."

"I'm irresistable."

"Not initially."

"Call me a bandit and I will leave."

"You can't fault me for thinking it Korra, you-- no! Korra, don't!"

The bounty hunter slowly stood with a Siren wrapped around her. Asami threw her arms around Korra's neck. She held on for dear life since Korra made no attempt to hold on to her. They both shared a laugh as Korra tried to walk but didn't get far with Asami's legs still tangled with hers.

"You're not a bandit. I'm sorry." Asami squealed.

"What am I?" Korra said with a smirk.

Asami pulled herself up to Korra's ear and whispered seductively. "An expert bounty hunter and elemental specialist."

Korra felt a shiver run up her spine. "That sounds so incredible when you say it." 

"That was the goal, now let us return to being asleep." Asami said quickly, clinging onto the expert bounty hunters strong shoulders.

Korra turned, laying Asami on the bed behind her and then playfully collapsing on top of her. 

"You're fucking heavy!" Asami grunted.

"I know." Korra's voice was muffled by Asami's purple tanktop. She buried her face into her midsection. "You smell like, bad but really good."

"Oh, thanks" Asami rolled her eyes.

"No, like, you smell like stuff that shouldn't smell good. Like you smell like leather, since you've always got on that jacket, and like metal. But it fits. And I'm willing to bet your right hand smells like burned leather, smoke and copper."

Asami pulled her tattooed hand up to her nose. "I probably wouldn't be able to smell it anymore." 

Korra struggled to plant a sturdy hand on the fluffy death bed and instead elected to slide up to inspect Asami's hand. She steadied herself with a wobbly elbow and took a whiff of Asami's hand.

"I smell the copper and smoke, no leather though." Korra rose an eyebrow. "Welp, my perception has failed."

"Well, you're usually right." Asami cooed placing her copper scented hand on Korra's cheek. Korra looked down at her allowing their eyes to finally meet. "Your eyes are like... incredible."

"How eloquent." Korra smiled. She leaned forward, Asami met her halfway as their lips softly pressed against each other. 

Korra's lips were soft and her kisses were always so easy and gradual, except for that one time. Asami leaned back, pulling the muscled figure over along. She could feel Korra's hand crater into mattress at her side and could practically hear her cursing the bed. Korra began kissing deeper. Both of Asami's hands found their way to the sides of Korra's face.

Korra pulled away slowly giving attention to Asami's jawline. She planted soft kisses from just below her mouth and trailed down to her half tattooed neck. She took a quick moment to to study that parts that she hadn't yet seen before carefully brushing her lips across soft skin.

"Korra?" Asami breathed.

"Hmm?" Korra hummed between kisses.

"Do you know what the markings on my arm say?" Asami moaned, somewhat embarrassed that she wants to have this conversation right now.

"Mmm-mmm" Korra replied, somewhat annoyed that Asami wants to have this conversation right now.

"You always look at them like you do. I was just wondering." Asami let her hands travel over Korra's toned shoulders and arms.

"Well," Korra managed between kisses. "I've seen them..., the markings, before and I recognize... some of the symbols.... I have no idea what they mean or... represent. Just that... they're Eridian." Korra had made her way to Asami's shoulder before stopping and looking Asami in the face.

"I ruined it, didn't I?" Asami blushed.

"No, I know you're a nerd and don't know much about your abilities." Korra huffed. "But if you must know, I kinda try to memorize the markings and placement of your tattoos because it might be useful later and I secretly want to know everything about you."

"That's not at all creepy" Asami smiled.

"It was supposed to be romantic and sweet." Korra grumbled. "But it also made me realize that we've got things to do that won't get done if I continue. That, and trying to support my weight on this bed is taking more of my focus than kissing you is."

"We could move to the floor..." Asami hinted.

"Or we can go kill Handsome Jack and figure out your powers and save Future Industries. Which conveniently enough go hand in hand." Korra shrugged. "Then we can move to the floor."

"Fine." Asami sighed

"Good," Korra chirped. She placed a quick kiss to Asami's lips before struggling out of the bed. "Now we can go back to being outwardly indifferent yet slightly flirty with each other."

"Oh yes. My favorite," Asami giggled. She followed Korra to the outside of the room where she put her usual clothes back on. Asami jumped into her boots and threw her jacket back on but left it unzipped, showing the purple tattoos across the top right of her chest. She glanced over at Korra who was fastening the last few straps on her black pants and realized that she almost forgot that Korra was a bit shorter than she was. She quickly threw her arms around the bounty hunters waist and rested her head on her shoulder. 

"This isn't flirty indifference, Asami." Korra rested a hand over the Siren's.

"Don't die on me, alright?" Asami breathed.

“I won’t, I promise.” Korra leaned her head on top of Asami’s. The Siren released her hold on her as she reached for her weapons.

“Hey you two love birds.” rang a voice that neither necessarily wanted to hear just yet.

“I never turned my ECHO back on what is happening?” Korra huffed. 

“Hey, Moxxi.” Asami actually sounded annoyed. 

“Sounds like you two had a good morning.” Moxxi purred. 

“What’s going on over there?” Asami ignored Moxxi as usual.

“Well, Sanctuary is flying over the Highlands and The fast travel network is back up so you should be able to get back here from T-Bone Junction.” Moxxi listed. 

“Sanctuary is flying?” Korra rose an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’d have told you that yesterday but Asami was so damn quick to hang up…” Moxxi complained. 

“I sorta helped build it. It’s a defense mechanism in case, stuff like what happened… happens.” Asami explained. “I guess they got it off the ground and Lilith teleported them over the Highlands but teleported us here.”

Korra secured her weapons and handed Asami her bag of Eridium. Asami’s visible tattoos began to glow. Korra smiled, Asami blushed. 

“By the way, sugars, my water line has been cut off. So I’ve got a limited supply of fresh water. I’ll save it for when you get back.” Moxxi said.

“What about the juice?” Korra almost desperately.

“Juice is low, too.” Moxxi answered.

“Oh, I’m gonna kill Jack.” Korra growled.

“We’re heading out now Moxx, we’ll see you when we get back.” Asami snorted. 

“Okay, then. Don’t break poor Korra’s back again, Asami.” Moxxi teased, Korra laughed, Asami closed her comm.

Korra started for the door, Asami checked around the bar for anything of interest since Korra cleaned the bodies out. She caught sight of a blue glowing… thing behind the side of the bar counter. She walked over to it and picked up and entire, sawed-off style shotgun. And it was a Maliwan, and does shock damage from the looks of it.

“Korra!” Asami called. “I found something!” the siren lugged the gun over her shoulder, trying to bring it out in as cool a fashion as she could. She walked out of the doorway to find Korra’s eyes locked on something ahead of her. 

“I found something, too.” Korra reached for her rifle over her shoulder.

Asami turned her head to find what she was looking at. Asami’s eyes widened. A tall slim figure in worn Lance Assassin gear under a leather vest, a right shoulder guard, a shield and a scarf wrapped around her head like a hood leaning against an old charred car. The Siren closed her eyes in frustration. “Fuck all this.”

“I see you found a new friend, Asami.” the figure spoke in a direct and serious tone. “Never thought you’d actually throw in with bandits.”

Asami could have stopped her from saying it but at this point, she just really wanted Korra to rip her to shreds anyway. Korra balled her fist tightly around the grip of her gun, careful to keep her finger away from the trigger. 

“She really doesn’t like being called a bandit.” Asami shook her head slowly.

“I take it that this is Athena, judging by the ratty old Lance Assassin armor,” Korra said through clenched teeth. “But, you see what I mean, right? She was a Lance Assassin. If I’m not mistaken that’s higher than a general and she’s got on salvaged armor! And she’s not clean! That Iroh dude was bad news.”

Asami rolled her eyes. “Not the time, Korra.”


	14. Aspis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been reading Republic City Blues. Playing Tomb Raider, Borderlands and Dragon Age: Inquisition for like the past few days to the point where I forgot when the last time I updated was. But I know I'm either due or just about so. This chapter was a headache to write since I'm more focused on what's happening a bit further down the line.
> 
> Also I hope for those of you who've read it (im at chapter 48?) that you can see a bit of the rub off. Also I probably have to edit the heck out of this but I just really needed to post it.

So, is she treating you well?" Athena asked as if she weren't expecting a very positive answer.

"She is, actually." Asami snapped, her green eyes were narrowed and her brow lowered. "Much better than you."

"Very many people could in hindsight. Never got a chance to apologize to you, though I'd doubt you'd see me to allow the opportunity." Athena dripped with confidence. From her smooth choice of words and her rigid demeanor, not to mention she looked damn intimidating already.

Korra could somehow see how it may have worked. Two stoic assholes talking about stuff until Asami maybe geeked about something she'd engineered. Maybe Athena took interest and started to look to her for advice. Maybe Asami got too close. Athena was familiar and, probably available. And now that the thought arises, she probably felt safe with Athena. Her mother was killed and the city she lived in was destroyed as a child. Her father, the only family she has left turned into a blood lusting arms manufacturer/dealer for Hyperion, and she ends up in Concordia alone.

Then finds this fucking pillar of strength in the last remaining Lance Assassin. Maybe bonded with her over the loss of a loved one and lack of any remaining. Even made her that dope ass shield on her arm. Korra glared at the assassin. Her physique was similar. Athena was taller and thin but likely just as muscular under all that armor.

And probably came with the same assurance of security that Korra was providing.

 _Except this time Asami made sure I wouldn't leave her. I come and go on her terms. I healed on her terms. I slept on her terms. And I actually even put myself in harms way for her. But the difference between us two is, obviously, that I returned her feelings she developed for me._ Korra's eyes narrowed in thought.

“So, like, I hope you don’t mind me asking this but, uh, what the hell do you want?” Korra lifted her gun, her armband glowed with green. “You cut ties with Jack, T-Bone Junction is pretty much a ghost town since you had you hand in destroying it.”

“This is the only place on this planet no one would expect to find me. And at the same time too obvious a place for people to look.” Athena shifted her weight and very subtly placed a and on the hilt of what likely is a sword sheathed across her lower back. “You seem to know quite about about me and my history with this place. I’ve got a feeling that you didn’t read what you’ve learned from a plaque in town.”

“I don’t think it really matters where the information came from, just that I know it.” Korra smirked. “Most important thing is I’ve got a job to get this lovely young lady here back home. You’re kinda standing in the way of the only road down from here, and you look a bit too threatening to just stroll past.”

“You say that but you’re the one pointing a gun. I was only paying a visit to old stomping grounds.” Athena smirked.

“I’ll drop my gun when you take your hand off the hilt, assassin.” Korra negotiated.

Asami could sense Korra’s intensity level skyrocket. The look in her eyes suggested that her gears were turning. But she was also more careful than usual. By now the siren was sure she’d have to restrain her from jumping on Athena on sight.

“I don’t take threats from guns lightly. Not to mention you are at an extreme advantage for having a mid range weapon and all I have is basically a long knife.” Athena drew her crimson blade, it was just as deadly-looking and sharp as Asami remembered. “Not to mention I don’t make negotiations with-”

Here it comes Asami mentally sighed as she stepped back into the threshold of the door. Korra opened fire, acidic bullets hailing toward the assassin who gracefully sidestepped and ducked behind the car she stood beside for cover. Korra shot a few bullets through the door and windows for good measure, maybe she found armor piercing rounds?

The bounty hunter reached for her belt tossing another slag singularity grenade right next to the car, hoping to pull Athena from her cover. But as Korra had told her before, if you were strong enough and knew it was coming you could resist the pull from a singularity grenade. Not sure if it were the former or the latter but Athena had not been tugged into the grenade for the slag bath that shortly followed.

Korra ran forward in her usual, dare to say, bandit-like approach; gun up, running close to cover but not necessarily behind it. She pulled the firehawk pistol from it’s holster pointing it ahead of her with her venom pointing limply behind. She slowed her spirit as she approached the car Athena was last seen behind and it as no surprise that she was no longer there. Korra scanned the perimeter of the car, behind it, and in front of it. Her pistol sights followed close behind.

"Asami, where'd she go?" Korra whined.

"Hell if I know! You’re fighting her!” Asami shouted. “...Aw, fuck! The roof! Korra, the roof!”

The bounty hunter bounced backward pointing her pistol at the roof. The assassin stood, tall and looming, staring down at Korra with a smirk. “You fight with arrogance. Korra, was it? You fight like you always win. You fight like there isn’t such thing as a mistake."

"I can't afford mistakes." Korra smirked.

"You make enough of them. You try to rush me from cover when you know I have a sword and then ask Asami for help to find your lost enemy. Utterly childish." Athena scoffed.

"I'm just getting warmed up." Korra rose her sub machine gun and quickly holstered her pistol. The bounty hunter shot three uncontrolled rounds at the assassin, moving her from the roof and down onto pavement. Korra had a hand on the rotary clip on the side of her gun and spun it forward, making it turn much faster than it would usually and spitting green, oozing bullets out double time.

Athena quickly rose her shield, bullets ricocheted and acid splashed against it. Korra counted sixty something and knew the clip was about spent. What she hadn't noticed, until she readied to reload, was that Asami's shield had grown, red pulsing, glowing blades that spun so very threateningly. The bounty hunter darted, knowing that either Athena was coming or the shield was. Korra slid forward on her knees and took cover behind a car as the shield went whirring above, cutting a piece of the frame between the roof and the door of the car.

Glass shattered from the windshield and the shield made a return trip back this time much lower. The sound of sharp blades cutting through the air drew Korra's attention. Of course the damn thing whizzes back towards her head. It's coming fast. Too fast. Korra tried to will herself to any quick evasive movement. A twitch, something.

Death is pretty much staring in her face and screaming 'gotcha muthafucka'. Her blue eyes widened as she stared at the spinning red orb of blades ready to slice through her like... like, fuck. Something fucking sharp. She felt resigned already since her body had apparently completely turned to stone.

 _The last thing I said to Asami was... asking where Athena went. I guess I got my goddamn answer. Shit I wanted fucking date Asami before I died_. Korra's voice echoed.

Korra sighed. She watched as the blades danced right up to her and greeted it with a glare of defiance. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Actually, her arms too. And a bit of her hair. The air looked like it was vibrating and then a flash of purple. And then lots of purple.

Korra suddenly found the ability to move her arm to shield her eyes, trying to make sense of all the bright purple light that encompassed her. Asami. She caught the shield between both her hands, bare, gloveless hands, which held it spinning in place between two level ten bolts of electricity no more than a few inches from Korra's face. The rotation slowed and eventually stopped. The shield that was threatening to slice through Korra's neck dropped rattled on the ground with a loud clang behind the Siren, her leather jacket settling back around a slender figure with glowing marks across the top of her chest and eyes to match. They glared at Athena and Athena's glare matched, except of course the glowing.

"Finally found your instruction manual I see." Athena spoke. Her voice finally realizing a threat. "I can't fight a siren, Asami. Not alone. Unfortunately Wilhelm isn't-"

"Wilhelm is dead." Asami's tone was cold. She pulled a Maliwan shock shotgun from the bag of Eridium she carried on her back and handed it to the bounty hunter. She took it and quickly stood to her feet, grateful for the restoration of her motor skills.

"The fuck is Wilhelm, or did you tell me that alrea- nevermind," Korra stammered then shook her head as she shoved a mag of shotgun shells into the gun. Thankful as always for Pandora's universal ammunition. Her hands settled on the grip and the under barrel. Her armband sparked and then exploded it a burst of blue electricity that covered her arm, similar to how Asami's purple bolts began to generate around both hers.

"Can't say I'm surprised. If the work didn't kill him the implants would have." Athena shrugged.

Asami turned the intensity up, her leather jacket flapped behind her as if she were making her own storm. She picked up the shield and examined it. "Glad to see you still have the aspis." Korra of course could not stifle a snicker. If Asami's pupils were visible he'd be rolling her eyes. She laid the aspis in her palm and with a few touches of electricity, it began to hover and spin, turning red and flashing just like before.

Korra planted her feet and readied her weapon. She could pretty much guess the plan: drop her shields and light her up. The shotgun plus Asami should do well with that. With a clap of thunder, Asami tossed the aspis charged with electricity hurling toward the assassin. Korra followed, sliding over the hood of the car she took cover behind. She ran close behind but didn't bother getting too close to the sword wielding assassin.

Her crimson blade caught the others from aspis with a clang as she smoothly moved it back to her wrist. A spray of shotgun shells littered the assassins shields causing them to flicker. Athena pulled the aspis up to close the gap between herself and Korra, who was careful not to attempt directly or heavily damage it to avoid a repeat of last time. Athena shrunk herself behind the aspis and rushed toward Korra who flattened the shotgun against it, trying to hold her off with sheer strength. She planted her feet and held her hand against the barrel of the shotgun as well as the grip. She could feel Athena nearly pushing her back.

Korra didn't invest much force into pushing back as holding her ground. The bounty hunter felt a hand dig into her shoulder. Asami hurdled over the shorter girl, arms covered in electricity still. Korra slightly retreated allowing Asami some room. The Siren landed she crouched, spun and swept for Athena's feet. She jumped back and away, lowering her aspis and raising her sword.

The sword wouldn't have been so worrisome if Asami had her glove but she doesn't. Athena takes a swipe at Asami. She sidesteps out of the way enough for Korra to take another burst at her. This time however the shotgun had gone from blue to purple. The electricity surging from Korra's armband had as well. The shells bounce off the shield. It flickers again, but much weaker this time. Shield isn't gonna hold much longer, one more shot should do it. Korra wished she had double tapped.

Athena had backed up, trying to calculate. She could've easily handled Korra alone but definitely not Asami as she is now. Let alone Asami with even a bit of help. She had become a fully realized Siren and not just a poser with fake tattoos that she felt a need to hide. Asami, who now was right beside her. She hooked her leg behind Athena knees, turned her hips and guided Athena to the ground with a hard electrified elbow, taking what was left of the assassin's shield with it.

Asami quickly snatched the aspis from Athena's wrist before she had even fully made contact with the ground. Asami kneeled with a knee on the assassin's chest, charging the again floating aspis by pinging it with electricity, the blades flipped out and begot more blades. She held the spinning red death right next to Athena's neck. Enough so that the wind the blades swirl ruffle her scarf.

"You've given me more than enough reason to do it." glowing purple eyes stare into blue ones.

"You're absolutely right," Athena nodded. "Do what you have to."

Korra stared; shotgun still purple, still aimed at Athena.

The surge of electricity around Asami turned thick. Bolts turned dark, some even black. The aspis, the name that still made Korra chuckle, spun wildly until it began to fall apart blade by blade, plate by plate. Asami let it all fall on Athena

"We're leaving. If I ever see you again you might end up like your aspis." Asami's tone was cold.

Korra giggled. "Ass piss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: I dont plan on going back to RCB until friday (when ill be getting a likely painful tattoo and will try to read it through the pain(its gonna be korras armband in case anyone cared)) so my focus should be here. No more extra day waits that I can forsee but I'll make no promises.
> 
> For those who have the Handsome Collection. Is 60 fps really weird for BL or is that just me? Love it either way though. I started my first playthrough as Gaige. And im like level 8 or 9 now and only put a few hours into the game.
> 
> If you've got an xbox one id be down to play my tag is c1ockworks.


	15. Satisfiable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meant to post yesterday but I had been kidnapped by my aunt all day for my birthday so I didn't get a chance. This ones kinda short I'll admit but the next will be a doozy

Aspis? What does that even mean? Like isn't that just diarrhea?" Korra was in uproarious laughter. 

"It's an ancient Grecian wooden shield. And hers is actually called a Kinetic Aspis." Asami explained. Her hand loose on the wheel as she darted through the automotive graveyard that used to be called the Crimson Tollway according to the signs.

"Explosive diarrhea?" Korra whooped.

Asami cracked a smile but it faded almost as soon as it appeared. Her mind was flooded with thought. She could use her powers without the glove. She already had an idea that she could but to be able to use that much of it without the glove to help guide it? And with both hands? Maybe the Eridium she carried had something to do with it. But that wasn't all that left her ill at ease. She let Athena get away after almost chopping Korra's head off with the aspis she damn near built. On Athena's every visit to Concordia something new was added to that shield. Asami had taken it apart, modified it and put it back together probably more than the manufacturer.

She shook the thought from her mind.Athena. Although she knew the assassin would be lurking around somewhere what she said was right, that was the first and last place anyone could expect her to be. The siren kept narrowed eyes ahead of her swerving through a sea of broken car parts.

"Hey, you alright?" Korra asked calming from her fit of laughter.

"Yeah, just thinking." Asami nearly whispered. 

"About...?" Korra tilted her head.

"My powers, that dumb shield, and... Athena." Asami sighed.

"Geez, I didn't even make the cut." Korra shook her head. "I actually wanted to ask you something if you don't mind."

"Okay." the siren's voice was distant. Like she was listening but not really.

Korra's eyes examined Asami's face. She seemed much more quiet and reserved since they left that little fight with Athena. That fight that she totally lost and Asami had to save her ass. 

"Did..., did Athena make you feel safe?" Korra asked carefully.

"Did she what?" Asami's brow lowered. She quickly glanced at Korra then back to the road. 

"Did you feel safe with Athena?"

"As safe as you could feel with an assassin working for a megalomaniac, I suppose."

"No, I mean when you were... together. Did she make you feel secure? Like you wouldn't have to run anymore? Like you wouldn't have to run with destruction in your wake?" Korra rambled.

"Um, is this a conversation we should have right now?" Asami's red lips were almost a thin line. 

Korra shrugged "I, uh, I dunno. I just figured, she's a Lance Assassin. I'm a hunter and a pretty good one. But mostly of animals and bandits but clearly not of people like Athena."

"What are you saying, Korra?" Asami asked, her voice was detached.

"Listen, this is me not being indifferently flirty. Like, serious Korra right now. A lot has been taken from you. And you're clearly able to handle yourself. So why hire me? Like you said yourself, and pretty much what I've shown, I'm not much better than a bandit. I thought, when I saw Athena, 'what's she got over me, besides the obvious?' Then I thought 'what's the same?' We both are pretty threatening looking people and can put up a fairly decent fight. Blue eyed harbingers of the dooms. 

"But then I realized. You need someone who has your back because the number of people that do nowadays is thinning. The number of places you called home... Even your own family..." Korra's voice was hesitant, like the weight of her words could break something in Asami.

"But she walked out on you too." Korra continued in her light voice. "I wasn't able to be your protector because I was blinded by jealousy and pride and I'll admit she damn near killed me and quickly. But I was able to have your back after. I'll do that for as long as you need."

"Korra..."

"Seeing her again must've been a pretty bad experience. And meeting her wasn't exactly great for me either. And I may not even be able to protect you next time. I'll be there though." Korra smiled. She reached for the hand Asami had balled on her thigh and covered it. The bounty hunter could feel her fist tense up and loosen a bit, but never made an attempt to return the gesture.

"Thanks." Asami smiled, briefly, and her expression became neutral. Her fist was still a loose ball in her lap.

"No problem, boss," the bounty hunter squeezed the Sirens hand before returning her own to her lap. Korra grabbed onto a rail on top of the runner as her eyes watched the zooming canyon walls. 

______

"Oh, god! I almost forgot about that Aspis thing!" Moxxi squealed. Korra guffawed along with her.

Asami facepalmed as she sat behind her glass of water.

"Asami- Asami, I- listen, sugar," Moxxi managed between small snickers. "That thing, you did a really good job upgrading it, like, it was basically a boomerang before you got your hands on it, and look! It almost took Korra's head off!"

"That's not something to congratulate, Moxxi, sheesh!" Korra frowned.

"Either way, you know Athena's an ass. And you know she's only looking out for herself. But then you already know you've got this lovely hunk of lady right here." She gestured towards Korra who stood in her stool and slowly flexed in various poses. "She has proven, time and again, that she can be helpful in search and in battle. In trial and in deed. In bed and in-" 

"Moxxi? Not right now, please?" Asami's voice was tired, maybe even exhausted. 

Korra slowly settled back into her seat and cast a glance over at the Siren. Her forehead was perched in her palm as she slowly shook her head. Usually she gets upset or just laughs off Moxxi's stabs but not this time. Seems that the meeting with Athena was taking it's toll. Asami straightened and began to stand. 

"I think I've learned enough about my powers through incident more than application." Asami's voice was lifeless, almost monotone. "The Eridium you've found on Jack's train, Korra, seemed like enough to at least defend ourselves against Athena. I may have absorbed all of it during the fight, it seems, since the bag was empty. But with what we experienced out there this morning, I think it's clear where my focus should be right now."

"Asami...?" Korra began. 

"You've held up your end of the deal and brought me enough Eridium to reveal a satisfiable extent of my own powers, so I'll hold up mine." Asami continued. "Tomorrow we'll head to Opportunity. I'll need to see my father"


	16. You Fucking Pig

The ride through the highlands was silent. Asami opted to drive again and she had the same blank expression she did when they left the Red Light the morning before. Actually, Asami had been pretty quiet since after Moxxi's yesterday. Those emerald eyes never looked in any other direction, always forward. 

Korra tried hard to focus on indifferent since flirty wasn't going to be an option. She folded her arm, rested her elbow on the side of the runner and perched her chin on her palm. She huffed silently as she stared out at the beauty of the highlands.

"Er, ahem, not that I don't mind the scenic route through the highlands, but why not just fast travel to Opportunity?" Korra didn't bother to make eye contact. She knew that it probably wouldn't be a mutual thing.

"Visits to Opportunity are logged, it's Hyperion's first settlement on Pandora. And since Jack just loves bandits," Korra cringed. "security is sent not long after arrival. Since you're registered for New-U you should be okay. I'm not. So I guess I'm the bandit this time." Asami continued. It was hard to tell if humor was the intent or not still since her words were filtered through that depressing voice.

"Okay," Korra replied. Blue eyes traced the outlines of mountains as they started past the town of Overlook and a few angry (or drunk) Zaford goons. 

"That's it?" Asami asked.

"What?"

"You just said 'okay.'"

"I did."

"You don't have anything else to say?"

"No. Should I?"

"You would usually. I just indirectly called you a bandit and didn't get a rise out of you at all."

"Didn't really think now would be an appropriate time to let a rise out."

"Are you okay?"

"I could ask you the same."

Asami let out a long sigh as darkness from a tunnel along the road overtook them. She slowed the car to a halt and pulled up close to the edge of the road. The release of the safety belt echoed under the tunnel and the rustle of leather suggested that Asami turned in her seat. 

"Hey," Asami began, her voice was free of the saddened tone but was replaced with sympathy.

"Hey yourself," Korra almost grumbled.

The siren sighed. "I, uh, I know I've been acting kinda different. I'm sorry. It's just... I-"

"You're under a lot of stress. Phantoms from the past have come back to haunt you. Everything is still crazy. I understand." Korra's voice echoed through the dark. A gleam of sunlight peaked through the tunnel, lighting a streak of the bounty hunter's face.

"That's absolutely correct. I figured you'd notice." Asami's tattoos began to glow under pushed up sleeves, casting purple light over half of her face. "I'm doing that by the way. And no electricity I promise."

"I'm not afraid." blue eyes blinked slowly as they traced the familiar patterns. "Well, I am somewhat uncomfortable, actually but I'll deal with it."

"Listen, Korra. You're my best friend. And eventually, hopefully, more if I can manage not to push you away." the corner of Asami's lips just barely curled into a smile. "Seeing Athena, her almost killing you, me almost killing her, seeing that damn..." 

"Kinetic Aspis," Korra whispered dramatically, stifling a chuckle.

"Yes, that damn thing." the Siren afforded herself a laugh. "But it made me realize some stuff. I'm not a fighter I'm an engineer with cool ass powers. And the ability to make cool ass stuff. Like the shield that almost cut your head off, or you armband that amplifies your already ridiculous amounts of elemental energy. I need to be building things. Not fighting. Not sulking about my past that I've got hidden on display in a glass case."

"Nice metaphor." Korra smirked.

"Thanks." Asami's smile was becoming more full. "My father used to say, 'past is prelude'. Which probably was his excuse for his descent into madness after mom died. But I've gotta move on. First step is gonna be taking back Future Industries and turning it into something awesome and not some store brand Hyperion bullshit."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Korra grinned.

"You still ready for Hyperion soldiers?" 

"I'm ready for everything."

"You know we may have to kill my father."

"Still ready."

"Do you know what he looks like?"

"Do you favor him?"

"Not so much..."

"Then no. Should I just mop up or...?"

"Well you should be able to tell. He'll probably be in one of these turbo mansions Jack promises to his people. He's also fat."

"Do I get to joke about how I'm meeting your family and we're not even official yet or...?"

"If it's a good joke or if it's, like, epic timing then yeah. If not then no."

"Well how about the irony that you actually ran off with a bandit against your fathers wishes?'

"You're not a-"

"I look like one. I've come to admit. Like a Maliwan walking billboard bandit."

"You're a cute bandit."

"I'll take that."

Asami's smile was full and felt genuine. It made Korra smile even wider. The bounty hunter reached a hand over to the glowing etchings that lit the Sirens hand. She wove her fingers between the circuitry of Asami's. Her hands felt warm and Korra could feel a slight vibration. She hesitated, expecting electricity to follow but soon firmly locked her fingers around a purple glowing hand.

Asami looked at their hands and noticed that Korra's side of the runner was slowly becoming lit with purple light. Lavender blended together illuminating the inside of the runner in the dark tunnel. It pulsed before electricity began to crackle from Korra's armband. The bounty hunter turned to look at the armband, an amazed grin on her face.

"Still uncomfortable?" Asami whispered as she leaned closer, resting her head against Korra's shoulder.

"No, suddenly I am very comfortable." Korra answered turning to the Siren at her side. The bounty hunter caressed a soft cheek, feeling the warmth and vibration spread even there. "I want to kiss you, but I may have to kill your father. So, uh, awkward."

"Is it less awkward to kiss me after?" Asami lifted an eyebrow as well as her head from Korra's shoulder.

"Not right after but maybe after you're emotionally vulnerable it may not be. But then that's low. I used to know a guy who'd do that. He as a fucking creep. We never really got along after that either-" 

"You're talking a lot." Asami breathed through lidded eyes.

"I am." Korra replied as she leaned in, capturing Asami's lips. 

___

 

"There were people living with disease not far from here. You fucking pig!" Korra shouted to no one in particular, knowing full well who it was actually directed at was probably nowhere close. 

"Its something you never really get used to knowing once you do." Asami sighed. "Jack's just as bad as the bandits. Just making more money." 

They climbed out of the runner, parked close to the barriers keeping vehicles from entering the city. Everything was yellow, and glass, and steel buildings, and landscaping, and, Jack. The huge city had a huge statue of Handsome Jack right at the gate. And from the looks of it, a few more around the city. Korra pulled her shotgun from its holster just above the small of her back.

"You know there are digistruct weapons carriers. You don't have to carry everything on your back." Asami lifted an eyebrow as Korra's armband exploded into a wild blue electric storm.

"Well obviously Miss Sato, I do not possess one of those." Korra rolled her eyes.

"I'll make you one." Asami smiled.

"I'd appreciate that." Korra returned the smile. "Hey, gimme a sec before we leave?"

The bounty hunter set her shotgun on the ground, leaning it against her leg. She reached for her pistol and unstrapped its holster from her harness. She pulled on a strap around her right leg and reattached the holster there. She spun the gun around her finger by the trigger guard and shoved into place. Then quickly pulled it out and pointed between the eyes of Handsome Jack's statue. 

"Bang." Korra growled, a small smirk crossed her face.

Suddenly a bright light cascaded ahead of right where the fast travel travel station was. They both threw their arms over their eyes, Korraquicjly sheated her pistol and picked up her shotgun, pressing the stock against her shoulder. They watched as four figures appeared and began running around aimlessly.

"These guys again?" Asami rolled her eyes. "They probably won't even notice we're here. Let's wait for them to go wherever they go." 

Maya headed straight for the bounty board and it seemed she selected every mission there was. Axton, the soldier guy, just stood in place. Zer0 swung his blade around at everyone. In rotation. Everyone. Then sent a clone of himself off the swung at nothing while he ran around. Salvador just held two guns and grunted, loudly, before running off with Maya and Zer0 in his wake. Axton stood still, gun readied but did not move. 

Asami and Korra exchanged looks then focused back on Axton. Gunshots and explosions could be heard further into the courtyards of the city from the other vault hunters. Yet Axton still remained. Korra slowly approached with her shotgun still up.

"Hey, Axton? Right?" Korra asked. "You alright, guy?" Korra placed a hand on his shoulder, he still didn't respond. Korra turned back to Asami and shrugged. As soon as she turned back around Axton had took off for the courtyard which now had a Hyperion constructor robot parked in it.

Asami pinched the bridge of her nose and tugged Korra by the arm in the opposite direction. 

"Why the fuck are they so damn weird?" Korra blurted angrily.

"I couldn't honestly say." Asami replied with a sigh. 

 

_____

 

Asami and Korra dashed into the Residential Quarter. Huge golden skyscrapers lined the area and nearly block the sky from below. Gunshots and explosion from damn near he other side of the city were still pretty clearly heard. As well as the few public announcements Jack had looping in the city.

"The city isn't finished yet but Handsome Jack moved my dad here so he'd have enough room to manufacture the guns." Asami mused as she ran up to and pulled on a locked set of double doors.

Korra lifted her shotgun and aimed at the set of glass doors. 

"Korra, they're probably bullet proof." Asami shook her head.

The bounty hunter unloaded on the door but of course there wasn't a scratch. "Worth a shot." she shrugged.

"Unauthorized entry attempt detected!" said a uncomfortably soothing female voice. "Security forces dispatched! Have a great day!"

Korra sighed and pressed her shotgun against it holder on her back and fastened it in with a snap. She swung the venom over her shoulder by the strap and readied herself. Asami's tattoos glowed purple and her eyes green as electricity trickled down her arms. She scanned the area, and then scanned inside the layers of any immediate buildings to see if any forces were moving from anywhere.

Nothing was moving.

"No ones here...?" Asami looked up and then down to make sure they were about to rappel down or pop up out of a trap door. 

"Spread thin from the Vault Hunters probably?" Korra lifted an eyebrow as she took a defensive step back and was then thrown to her feet by the door, now swung open and crashed into her back.

"Nobody move!" said a voice from inside the building. A round man in red and orange armor, similar to to the Hyperion soldiers but far too small stepped out of the door. His stomach, covered in padding, stuck out of his armor, the shin guards looked like they cut off nearly all circulation to his legs since his calves stuck out over them. His arms were similarly stuffed into his wrist guards. The only thing that fit was his helmet. He held a red and orange rifle that shone as is there was water moving back and forth inside the metal housing. He pointed it straight at Korra as he waddled in for a closer shot. 

Korra was laughing her ass off on the floor.

"You're all that's left?" Korra hollered as she squirmed reaching or her stomach.

"Korra?" Asami focused her penetrating gaze on the armored man in front of them. Peering through his armor.

"Like this is what protects the people after the army is gone? I'd never want to live here!" Korra began to curl into a ball on the floor.

"Korra..." the siren grumbled, a hint of frustration in her tone.

"Okay, I'm sorry." the bounty hunter gasped for air as she pushed his rifle away and stood up. "Alright..., sir, I've got parents to be introduced to so if you'll excuse me."

"Korra, this is my dad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A more lengthy chapter at last. Starting to get closer to the end now. Dunno what else to say... Yeah :)


	17. Eridium Tempest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brought out of an almost semi hiatus, I'm back. Sorry about that it just seemed like no one was reading anymore the hits got pretty stagnant and there were little to no comments. I figured you guys had forgot about this so I took a short break but thanks to some still reading eyes I've been brought back with a half written chapter I found motivation to finish up. Still pretty short but yeah. As promised here it is!

"Pffft..." Korra held her hand over her mouth as she looked Asami's father over. He raised his rifle, crosshairs pointed right between her eyes, pretty much pressed the guns barrel there. Korra swatted at the rifle as if she were shooing a fly.

"Good, I knew I could still believe in you, my darling. I assume this must be a bandit leader. A bit obscure bringing her here instead of dealing with her in some other fashion, but nonetheless I-"

"Listen here, dad." Korra plunged the barrel of her fire pistol into his eye. “I’m no fucking bandit. I’m an expert bounty hunter. Which would then answer the question of why she brought me here.” She applied more pressure to the gun, backing him against the door while keeping him at arms length.

“Please don’t hurt him yet, Korra. I still need things from him.” Asami folded her arms irritably. She approached, turning her back to lean against the wall Korra had her father pinned against. She pressed the heel of her boot to the glass as tilted her head towards her father. Her expression was cool, her previous irritation seemed to have melted away. Korra’s armband was an all-consuming inferno, matched only by the wildfire blazing in her gaze.

“So, father. How’s it been working for Jack?” Asami spoke with charm and a smile.

“Answer the question, pops!” Korra roared.

Asami glared at Korra with the same irritability that had resurfaced from a few moments prior and washed it away again. “Excuse my partner here. Her patience, as you can tell, is a bit on the short side. We just came here to ask a few questions. And depending on your cooperation, or lack thereof, this could be an easy afternoon for you. Or, it could be an entertaining one for the lovely Korra here.”

“‘Sup.” Korra hissed as she nudged his eye socket with her barrel.

“I can’t believe this, that my daughter would actually--” Hiroshi began but was again cut off. Korra gripped the handle of her pistol a bit tighter.

“Uh uh uh, dad.” Asami shook her head. “I’d advise against continuing that statement. You see, my partner is a bounty hunter. A proficient one at that. And if you’re about to say what I think you’re about to, you may be making your deathbed. Or at least planning to lose an eye.”

The siren leaned closer to her father, her head hovering right over his shoulder. She lifted a hand to cover her mouth as if she were telling him a secret.

“Korra isn’t a bandit and detests being called one.” the tone of her statement betrayed the gesture. Hiroshi’s eyes moved away from Korra’s, to Asami, with some difficulty since one of his eyes was a bit preoccupied. The siren noticed beads of sweat forming on his forehead.”I’ll just cut to the chase. Remember what I said about Korra’s short patience?”

Asami leaned away from her father, resting her head against the glass. Korra’s eyes jumped between the two. Asami was right, they didn’t favor each other much. She clearly got her height from him since she was about the same height as he is. Their eyes are the same too, though not in color. That she must’ve inherited from her mother as well.

“Her mother must’ve been god damn gorgeous.” Korra thought, but was quickly pulled back into the moment as Asami began to speak.

“I’m here to take Future Industries off your hands and away from Handsome Jack. It will be its own standalone company, free from Hyperion.”

“For what purpose would you even do that? I’m sure you couldn’t possibly have the means to run a whole weapons manufacturer.” Hiroshi grunted.

“Well first off, Jack’s a dick. So there’s one purpose.” Korra mocked

“Yes,” Asami nodded. “But also that I have access to materials that make weapons crafting as easy making a slingshot. I have my own means, father, I don’t need you."

“Is this what your mother would want, Asami?” Hiroshi scoffed. “Working with the very bandits that killed her to take all our family has left and put it in the hands of even more bandits? Who does that help? It’s just more senseless violence!”

“You don’t come outside very often do you?” Korra’s eyes narrowed.

“Hang on a second, Korra.” the Siren placed a hand along the top of Korra’s pistol. Korra glared daggers at Hiroshi before removing the barrel of her gun from his eye and stepped aside. Asami replaced her, sliding a hand under a small space under the arm of his body armor. She pulled him close, their noses almost touching. “Don’t you ever talk to me about my mother. Atlas had her killed, the bandits only carried out the order.” Asami hissed. She drove him into the glass, nearly cracking it. She shut her eyes as electricity began to dance up and down her arms.

“W-what? Asami, what are you doing?” Hiroshi gasped.

“You know? I think mom would be proud of me. I’ve helped save lives from the hands of Handsome Jack and you, Dad.” Asami’s eyes slowly opened, revealing luminous green. “I think she’d be proud that I learned how to use my powers.”

“You don’t know anything about your powers.” Hiroshi growled. He stared Asami in her glowing eyes.

“I don’t?!” Asami fumed. Instantly, both Asami’s arms were covered in dark dancing bolts of lightning. Her eyes shone an even more brilliant shade of green before slowly fading to purple.

“You may have this little electric charade well practiced but you don’t know the full extent.” Hiroshi sneered. “I could explain it to you if only you’d calm down.”

Asami’s grip on her father’s armor tightened, her eyes narrowed. He could be holding us here to wait for reinforcements and capture her to bring to Jack for who knows what, but there was also the possibility that what he had to say was the truth. What reason would her have to lie… besides capturing her and turning her over to Jack.

Korra had already scanned their surroundings, there still weren’t any personnel anywhere around but there were still lots of gunfire and explosions off in the distance “Up to you,” Korra shrugged.

“Hand your gun over to Korra.” Asami glared, the storm along her arms subsiding.

Korra quickly snatched the gun from Hiroshi’s hands. Hiroshi and Asami both quickly looked between themselves and then to the bounty hunter who had already began examining the gun. She looked up at them with a puzzled eyebrow. “I wanted to skip the condescending names he was ready to call me. ‘Cause if he’d have said ‘bandit’ there’d be no damn story.” Korra growled before returning to the weapon.

Asami blinked. “Just tell me about my powers.”

Hiroshi’s eyes narrowed at Korra, who nearly had the gun in two pieces already. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Before you were born, Atlas had attacked an Eridian settlement on some moon somewhere. There were reports that there was a Siren on that moon with them. Since there was no technology they could find to make use of on that moon, they pretty much glassed it. Any and everything on that moon was destroyed. Shortly after that, you were born. As you already know six Sirens can exist at once. You are the reincarnation of that sixth Siren.”

“However you weren’t born with the etchings on one side of your body, those showed up much later, about when you were 6. Once they did, I asked Atlas to let me leave the board and go back to Haven to engineer weapons with some of technology I helped find. I told them I wanted to be able to spend more time with my family but, of course my intentions were to keep you hidden from them, since they would undoubtedly have either used you as a weapon or killed you because they wouldn't know how if they found out. Atlas wouldn’t allow me to leave so I left on my own. Not three months went by until the attack on Haven and we lost your mother. So I went to Hyperion. After being there for a while I stumbled onto their library which was extensive to say the least. There were volumes on volumes of just about everything you could think of, including Siren lore.

“So I studied it in my free time. What I discovered was that the Siren that Atlas killed on the moon was one classified as an Eridium Tempest. Liquid Eridium courses through their veins, which is why your tattoos are purple and not blue. Your blood, before being exposed to oxygen, is actually a fluorescent purple instead of blue like regular humans. Their powers are electricity based and include the ability to see through layers of solid objects, and move at incredibly fast rates of speed. Faster than a phasewalker, or Lilith, that bandit Siren you’ve been around. Your purpose, however is to quickly charge a Vault key in case a Vault ever needed to be immediately opened.

“I knew this and informed Jack once he took over Hyperion, I even offered you, the Siren I kept secret for so long to get revenge on all the Pandoran bandits that took your mother from me. But you had already gone, run off with that Hodunk lady friend of yours. Jack was impatient so he used his own daughter, Angel. He injected her with Eridium, so much so that she can’t live without it, to charge the Vault Key he stole from that fool Tannis.”

“Well, that was enlightening.” Asami nodded, “You didn’t exactly tell me much that I didn’t already know. Except that I'm supposed to charge the Vault Key. I don't need many people knowing that."

"So, you're like a reincarnate Siren goddess?" Korra asked, placing the newly reassembled gun wherever it could attach on her back.

"That sounds like a possibility, yes," Asami said.

"Your mother dying didn't phase you at all?" Hiroshi rose an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean she's been dead for like sixteen years. I mean I love her and the memories I have of her are definitely better than the ones I have of you, but she's been dead longer than I've known her." Asami shrugged.

"Asami, that's fucking sad!" Korra whined, both hands clasped over her chest. "I don't know what I'd do without my mommy."

Asami smiled, that was probably the girliest thing Korra had ever done in her life. “Was that all?” Asami folded her arms.

“That is all I have, yes.” Hiroshi nodded. “Tell your bounty-”

Korra had quickly pressed the barrel of her shotgun under his chin, tilting his head back against the glass door.

“Bounty hunter!” Hiroshi quickly corrected himself. “Your bounty hunter friend has remarkably fast hands… I- nevermind! Keep the damned gun.” Hiroshi stammered as he eyed the blue sparks flutter along Korra’s armband.

“So are we going to talk about Future Industries?” Asami asked, seemingly unaware of Korra and her shotgun, or probably too used to it to care.

“There is no Future Industries!” Hiroshi grunted.

Asami’s brow furrowed.

“I’ve been making Hyperion weapons, Jack discontinued the Future Industries line of guns. Said that the parts were too difficult to obtain or too expensive to mass produce. We only made five guns and I have them all. Well, actually, Korra now has one.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno if it'll stick to the every other day schedule anymore, I've actually been starting to teach myself how to draw so I've been busying myself with that, on top of my usual gaming stuff. (Thinking about a Halo AU after this to write parallel to Breakneck (IGPX au) but We'll see. LEave some comments and stuff while you're at it =D


	18. A Slap In The Face

Asami snatched the rifle from Korra’s back, nearly pulling her off her feet. and examined Hiroshi’s gun. Flipping and turning it to look at every possible angle. She bounced it in her hands, she shouldered it, she aimed using the sights. She did everything but fire it.

“How is it glowing like this? What kind of rounds does it use? What is it made of? Is it elemental?” Asami barraged Hiroshi with questions then quickly tossed the gun to Korra, who was still struggling to balance herself from nearly being yanked to the ground. Korra sloppily caught the weapon with her arms and shot Asami a puzzled look. “How does it feel? Is it light? Shoot it! Are the sights accurate? Can you--”

“Asami, calm down!” Korra laughed. 

“Korraaaaaaa, shoot it please!” Asami bounced. 

“If I do, will you relax?” Korra smirked. Her hands found their way to the built-in foregrip and trigger. 

“Yes, sure! Just do it” the Siren scrambled behind Korra peering over her shoulder as she pressed the stock to her shoulder. Her back muscles flexed and stretched as her arms adjusted for accuracy. 

“Anything I should know before I fire this, old man?” Korra rose an eyebrow as her eyes motioned toward Hiroshi who was standing behind her. She could see his greying hair in her periphery. 

“There is a stabilizer installed so it won’t kick much. It’s a bullet hose, it holds 128 lightweight armor piercing rounds in one magazine. It also fires relatively quiet without much of a decrease in ranged damage due to a special muzzle brake I designed.” Hiroshi listed as if he were trying to sell Korra the gun. 

“But…?” Korra trailed. No gun could be this good without a major drawback. It probably takes one year off your life expectancy whenever you fire it or something.

“It’s powered by Eridium. The gun stops glowing when the power is spent. It also needs an amount of Eridium when it’s reloaded as well. There are special magazines I’ve created that hold Eridium chips that go into that gun specifically. Other than that, this model uses standard Pandoran issue assault rifle rounds.” Hiroshi announced. 

“So, will this gun kill me if I shoot it?” Korra grumbled, clearly agitated by all the weapons mumbo jumbo.

“As beneficial as that would be for me at this point, no it will not. Fire when ready,” Hiroshi mocked bowed with a hand extended in front of him.

“I’d shoot you right in your fat ass if Asami wasn’t so damn excited about this.” Korra hissed. She turned to Asami, whose arms were impatiently folded. Korra flashed her a wide grin before peering down the sight of the gun. They weren’t complex at all; three small metal posts, two tall ones along the sides, one halfed in the middle. Korra couldn’t tell if they were painted or if the carbon fiber the on the posts was real. At the top of all three were small shining silver caps, making it easier to aim by differentiating the colors of the iron sights was a smart idea. Hiroshi did know how to make a gun. 

Korra took aim at a nearby photo of Handsome Jack on some propaganda- like poster pinned to a pillar nearby. Korra straightened, took aim, and fired two bursts of golden light into the poster. She lowered the gun and watched as Asami hurried over to the poster she fired at. “Heh, this thing shoots golden beams of sunshine.” Korra guffawed.

“Yes..., how perceptive of you Korra.” Hiroshi drawled. 

Korra quickly reached at her strap for her Venom, tugging it enough that the gun flew over her shoulder and into her hand, she pointed the gun at Hiroshi’s armor and sprayed a few oozing green bullets into it, leaving smoldering holes in the metal. “Only open your mouth if it answers Asami’s questions from now on or the next bullet is gonna be from the rifle right into one of those holes.”

“Geez, Korra. You shot him in both eyes!” Asami pointed at the poster on the pillar and looked back with a grin. It faded as soon as Asami saw Korra with guns in both hands and her father's armor holey slightly deformed. “Wait, what th- Korra! Why did you shoot my father?”

“And I shoot pretty accurately.” Korra smirked. She tugged the strap again, pulling her gun back over her shoulder. "Your father has a big ass mouth and he wants me to fill it with bullets is all." Korra smirked as Asami approached. 

"I'm going to need for you two to get along." Asami sighed. "You two are going to be working together for a while, almost directly, actually."

"...Why?" they answered in unison. Giving Asami, then each other disgusted glares. Korra raised her rifle at Hiroshi.

"Because you're coming with us, dad." Asami said as if it were obvious. 

"Again, why?" they both repeated. 

"Well, since I couldn't liberate Future Industries we are going to rebuild it." Asami placed a hand on her hip.

"With him?!"  
"With her?!"

"...Yes..." the siren nodded slowly, starting to get a bit uneasy with the two speaking in accidental unison. "My father will help me manufacture and build the guns. Korra can test them. With some help from Marcus and Moxxi we can gather the funds to mass produce and sell them." Asami smirked confidently.

"You sure Jack would be okay with one of his weapons engineers suddenly gone missing?" Korra asked.

"I'm sure he won't notice too much or else he'd have dad back on Helios with him, not down here on Pandora." Asami placed a hand on her chin. "There is the possibility that Jack could be tracking my dad to get a bead on Sanctuary."

"It's a floating city now. He has a moon satellite. If he can't find it he's probably not looking hard enough." the bounty hunter replaced her rifle with her pistol, holding it limply at her side. "Besides, I'm sure he's counting on a reunion between you two."

Hiroshi folded his pudgy arms over his mangled armor. "He's not, he knows we're indiffer-" 

"Asami didn't ask you anything, sir." Korra said as she pressed her pistol to Hiroshi's lips.

"Korra..." Asami sighed.

"We came here to more than likely kill him and now we probably aren't. I will point my gun at him, hell, I may even fire if he pisses me off enough, as much as I please."

Asami rolled her eyes. Korra definitely was going to be a difficult testing partner so knowing she'll be along won't persuade her father any. But the threat she's posing to him right now would. "Fine," she said. "What does Jack know about our relationship, dad?"

Korra removed her pistol, giving Hiroshi . hard pat on the back, pushing him front and center. He looked back at her with a scowl and straightened himself. "Jack thinks you left because you were just being rebellious. So since I wasn't able to get you to initially charge the Vault key I suppose he assumed you were dead. His focus is set mostly on revenge on Lilith, anyway."

"I wouldn't put it past him that he'd have some sort of Siren radar." Korra folded an arm across her chest, hooking a hand behind her opposite elbow as she rested her cheek against her palm and pistol. 

"Well he said there are six and only knows of three. So, Lilith, his daughter and me?" Asami rubbed her chin.

"There's that Vault hunter siren, too. So maybe he does think you're dead." Korra replied, her voice muffled into her palm.

"Well that's good for us." Asami nodded.

"Whatever gets all this crazy shit over with fastest is fine with me... As a matter of fact, lets just let the Vault Hunters deal with everything and we can focus on this. How bout that?" the bounty hunter shrugged a shoulder. 

"Well I'll likely still need to be protected from Jack. Who knows? He might find out I'm alive and decide to take his daughter off charging duty and plug me in there. I'm not charging a damn thing for him." Asami scowled.

Korra looked at Hiroshi, waiting for a response. He stood motionless, aiming a scowl matching his daughters at the patterned concrete. She couldn't read his eyes. Or at least it wasn't as easy as reading Asami became. He must have his own tells and quirks separate from hers but the facial expressions were definitely the same. Korra's gaze intensified, hoping that hoping he'd stop his staring contest with the damn ground long enough to voice some kind of concern for his only child's life. Yet again, nothing came.

Korra's hand drove into the front his shoulder, forcing him around to face the fury in Korra's blue eyes. Korra sheathed her pistol and quickly grabbed both sides of his chest plate. Korra's arms flexed as she slammed him into the apparently indestructible glass with an explosive bang. Hiroshi struggled but couldn't free himself from the hunters vicegrip that held his undersized armor in place.

"You are a despicable piece of shit, you know that?" Korra spat, her eyes carried as much blue-hot anger as her voice.

"I didn't do anything!" Hiroshi shouted. His hands were as pale as his face as they pressed against the glass.

"You're damn right you didn't," Korra grit her teeth as she lifted him off his feet. The glass squealed like nails against a chalkboard as his poorly fit armor dragged against it. "Your daughter, your only fucking child's life is in danger and you didn't lift a finger. You couldn't even say anything. There is a fucking maniac hunting Sirens. She's willing to still work with you after you offered her up to him and you say nothing? She's standing in your face saying she's going to need protection and you seemed to find the ground more interesting. How is it that I've known her for much less time and I care for her more than her own father? You're lucky I don't kill you right now you low-life bastard."

"She is right." Asami shrugged.

"You're lower than scum," Korra's voice rumbled like thunder, her eyes as intense as a lightning storm, piercing through Hiroshi's fearful gaze. His breaths were and quick and he cowered like a cornered animal. And that's exactly what Korra wanted. "You'd better exceed every expectation she has when we get started or I will show you exactly how good a bounty hunter I am." Korra dropped her grip on his armor, letting him crumple to the floor. He coughed and gasped for air as he toppled over on his hands and knees. 

Korra stood over him with the same intense glare, her hands were balled as tightly as Hiroshi fit into his body armor, which was apparently suffocating him while she held him against the glass. There wasn't a trace of sympathy in her eyes as she watch him recover, but her gaze softened as she looked to Asami.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." said Korra, her voice cracking a bit mid sentence.

Asami nodded slowly. "It had to be done. It would've taken a lot for me to do it myself."

"It shouldn't have to be done at all." Korra replied. "You don't deserve a father like him."

"Yeah..." Asami breathed. "I'm just glad that you care."

"Yeah," Korra nodded. "So, how much of a slap to the face would it be if he were to look up from near suffocation and see us kissing."

"No."

"Damn..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was initially going to kill Hiroshi in this chapter, with Jack launching a huge constructor on his building by accident but.... Nah


	19. Only Because Asami

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to fix this. Geez it was riddled with errors. You can clearly see life before and after the beta help. Sheesh.

"Korra, wake up! Your arm is heavy as hell." Asami grunted, sleep still weighed down her voice. Korra stirred, slowly opening one eye to find Asami struggling to free herself from the snare of her arm wrapped around her waist.

"Do we have to do this gun thing right now? Can't we wait until, like, later?" Korra groaned.

"No we can't." Asami sighed as she pushed against an apparently unmoving arm. "Let me up!"

"Nope," Korra slurred as she opened her other eye. "This is the first time I've seen you in the morning. And with no makeup. You look different."

Asami's face turned as red as the rifle Korra left by the bed. She tried to push against Korra's vicegrip again. "Well if you let me get up I can put some on." Asami huffed.

"No, no you don't need to. You look great." A lazy smile crossed Korra's lips.

Red remained on Asami's features as she returned the smile. "Thanks."

"Uh huh," Korra hummed. "Maybe I should wake up early more often."

"No you shouldn't." Asami chuckled as she sent a small shock to Korra's arm. She snatched it back with a hiss as Asami took the opportunity to free herself and climb over her.

"You cheater!" Korra growled as she grabbed Asami by her waist with both hands before she could get a foot on the floor.

"Korra, no." the siren whined.

"You really expect me to just let you shock me?" Korra sat up and slid her arms fully around her.

"I expected you to freak out and fall out of bed." Asami grinned, she brought her knee to Korra's side and let her other leg hang off the bed. She let her foot brush against the wooden floor in case she needed to make a quick escape.

"I told you I'd try not to be afraid of your freaky powers." Korra's eyes fluttered closed as she leaned forward, her head colliding into Asami's chest. She took a breath and her senses filled with the smell of leather, copper, motor oil, and something else but it smelled burnt. There was also a hint of that bitter tea she always drinks, and olives. She opened her eyes and found a few strands of hair that came cascading over her shoulder. The bounty hunter felt worn hands glide over her arms, like soft sponges sliding over her skin. They traveled and perched over her shoulders

"I'm glad you did." Asami smiled. Her hands vibrated against Korra's skin and ignited a small storm of purple bolts from her armband. Korra glanced at it with a smile. "If you hadn't, this couldn't be our thing."

"This is our thing now?" Korra snorted.

"Yes it is," Asami insisted.

"Okay." Korra nodded against Asami's chest. "Let's keep doing this thing for about two more hours."

"Korra, we have to get started on the guns," Asami pushed Korra upright to look her in the eyes. She was careful to not to end up trapped in Korra's pleading pools of blue.

"Yes we do." Korra smiled then tilted her head back into Asami's chest. She moved her hands flush against Asami's tank top as they wandered to the center of her back. "Later."

"So you want to just sit here like this for another few hours." said Asami as she ran her fingers through Korra's hair.

"Well, probably kiss you a few times." Korra's voice vibrated through Asami's chest.

"Of course." Asami replied.

"Also, I need to mentally prepare to not throttle your father when I see him." Korra growled.

"Please don't throttle my father." said Asami, her fingers wrapping themselves in Korra fluffy hair.

"I'll try. I may need an incentive." Korra leaned back to look in Asami's eyes, pressing her hands against her back.

"Obviously," Asami hummed. Korra reached up, brushing a lock of wavy raven hair behind her ear. Her hand lingered a bit before she dragged two fingers along her jawline then down her bare tattooed shoulder. Korra smirked, her action was rewarded with a satisfied sigh.

"I always end up here." Korra traced her tattoos along the top of her shoulder while she looked into Asami's eyes.

"Yeah," Asami breathed as she fingered loose threads over the shoulder of Korra's black tanktop. She stared into cerulean and ended up lost in them. Her hands somehow made their way to the sides of Korra's face, stroking her cheek with her thumb. Korra grabbed onto her hand, kissing her palm.

"Asami, if you're awake, I have everything set up to begin...." Hiroshi opened the door to their room holding a clipboard. His face instantly tightened, lips a thin line between his goatee. "...testing," he finished.

Korra's face sunk back into Asami's chest, her hands fell limply at either side of Asami's legs. "What the fuck, Hiroshi?" her yell muffled by Asami's tanktop. The siren rolled her eyes as her hands found their way back into Korra's hair, cradling her head.

"Okay, I'll be down in a few minutes. Let me just..., get myself together." Asami stammered.

"Of course," Hiroshi nodded slowly, his eyes narrowed at Korra while he was afforded the luxury.

"I can feel you staring at me, old man." Korra growled, locks of her hair fell over her shoulder as Asami removed her hands. "You're getting pretty high on my kill list, Sato."

"We do share the same last name, and you're still talking into my chest." Asami pushed against Korra's shoulder to bring herself to her feet.

"You already know where you are on my kill list." Korra placed her hands on Asami's thighs as she got up, letting her slide out of her touch.

"I'll meet you in the... 'lab', Asami. Sorry to interrupt." Hiroshi impatiently turned to leave.

"You fucking douchenozzle." Korra yelled after him. She let out a loud sigh before plopping back onto the bed.

"Well that was awkward." Asami laughed as she slipped into her leather jacket.

"You haven't worn that in a while." Korra peeked up.

"Haven't done much work in a while." Asami replied, slipping her arm into her burgundy sleeve. "Also don't want my father gawking at my tattoos."

"Right," Korra nodded. "Want me to come along? He said he was ready to test. That's my job, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and since you're up already it probably would be a good idea for you to come along." Asami stepped into her pants.

"Alright," Korra sprung out of the bed. "Ready when you are."

"You're not going to get dressed?" Asami asked as she slid on her gloves.

"To shoot some guns? Nah." Korra waved her hands and started for the door. Asami followed. Korra quickly turned around, blocking the door. "What's the password?" she smiled.

Asami, who by now had become an expert at rolling her eyes, placed her hands on Korra's shoulders and pecked Korra's cheek with newly reddened lips.

Korra rose an eyebrow. "I never even saw you put on the lipstick."

___

Korra sat cross legged on top of a stool near the door of an abandoned apartment in Sanctuary's housing quarters turned arms lab. Asami would always come here for her bigger projects. Stuff like her glove and Korra's armband were usually done in her own apartment. Korra watched in utter disinterest as Hiroshi and Asami talked about... guns stuff. Something abkit a capacitor and a thing called a trans sister?

Korra found more interest in the stuff on the table she sat by. Like this very curious roll of white tape. She picked it up and started rolling it around her hand and wrist just like when she used to hunt right after leaving home. The wraps she used then were more thread like and not all plastic-y like this stuff. She bit the end of the amount of tape she needed and smoothed it on before starting on her opposite arm.

She glanced over at the two at the table. Asami was screwing a thing and Hiroshi was speaking in his technical gibberish, as long as she didn't hear 'bandit' or some other smart ass slur she didn't need to kill Asami's father today, at least. She finished wrapping around her knuckles and started around the palm of her hand. Her eyes followed Asami, happy as hell Asami. She hadn't stopped smiling since they left the room that morning. She found the corners of her mouth lifting a bit and wondered how Hiroshi's hadn't. His face was neutral as if he was just speaking to some random person and not his own daughter. It still boiled her blood.

 _Maybe I should learn some of this nerdy shit in case I have to kill her father. At least she can still be this happy_. Korra thought before lowering her head to bite off the tape and smooth it over. She brought a leg up over her knee and began to wrap her feet.

Her eyes fell back on the Siren, her tattoos covered by her work clothes and likely her distrust of her father. Korra missed seeing them, they had become familiar and kind of a symbol that Asami could trust her. Korra liked to believe Asami still thought that she'd kill anyone who had a problem with it. Except...

"Fuckin' Athena..." Korra grumbled. Her wrapping got a bit more aggressive as she made her way up her ankle. The memory of that day played back. How she ran up on an enemy behind cover, took her eyes off the situation, asked Asami where Athena went while standing out in the open then froze while the fucking bladed shield of spinning death came whirring at her head. And Asami saved her life and had to nearly kill her herself.

Korra angrily gnawed at the tape and started on her other foot.

Asami turned from the table, her father applied the finishing touches to another luminescent masterpiece. This time it was a golden submachine gun. "Hey Korra, we're ready for you." Asami spun around, placing a screwdriver on the table behind her. The bounty hunter hadn't moved, she was furiously focused on wrapping her leg in what Asami was sure Korra didn't know was electrical tape. Her smile softened. "Give us a sec, dad," she waved to her father. He folded his arms impatiently.

Asami approached as Korra savagely bit off the piece of ap to complete her wrapping. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"

Korra scowled, looking up quickly as she reacted to the touch. Her expression when she realized who it was. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Just thought about something."

"About what?"

"Nothing important."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything is cool. You ready for me now right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we are."

"Great." Korra slid out off the stool and towards the tablet. She placed taped hands down where they fit in the midst of the odds and ends on the table. Hiroshi finished welding on a foregrip and backed away.

"All yours," he sighed.

Korra glanced at him, her eyes aimed guns that her hands couldn't reach. Except for this one right in front of her, but she figured she'd behave for now. Only because Asami. She looked at the golden SMG between her hands. Light like rays of sun danced along the guns housing.

"It's corrosive. Asami said you've had your Maliwan Venom for a long time a thought you could use an upgrade." Hiroshi began. "I made it so it feels like a Maliwan; lightweight, deceptively colorful and elementally hard hitting. It packs a decent punch on its own but deals four times as much damage in corrosion. You can also switch between normal and burst fire as well as corrosive and non-corrosive bullets. The controls for those are on the back of the foregrip."

Korra picked up the gun and pressed the stock to her shoulder. Asami scurried to her side. "It's much lighter than my Venom." Korra said.

"If you switch between firing modes the crosshairs adjust as well." Hiroshi pointed.

  
Korra felt two switches of the foregrip; one under her thumb, another under her index finger. She slid her thumb and the taller rails on the cross hairs folded down into the shorter one in the middle, making it a thicker and raised it a bit higher. A small screen under the iron sights lit up in red letters reading 'AUTO'. She flipped the switch by her thumb and the silver piece above the post glowed green as well as the letters on the screen. She flicked her thumb again and the crosshairs flipped back up. The screen read 'BRST' in green letters.

"I like this." Korra lowered the gun and grinned at Asami. "Thanks for this."

"I owed you, no thanks required." Asami smiled back. "Come on, I set up a range down the hall." Asami started out of the room. Korra switched the crosshairs up and down a few mores times before following. She shot a quick glance at Hiroshi, another threat with a gun in hand this time. She rose an eyebrow as he quickly reached for Asami's sleeved arm. She pointed the smg directly at Hiroshi's head but he had already grabbed Asami and pulled her in front of him.

"What the hell, dad?" Asami cried as she tried to struggle free.

"Let her go right now, Hiroshi!" Korra shouted, her eyes narrowed and her hands tight around her gun.

Hiroshi sighed and shrugged. "Fine"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if anybodys played Call of Duty ghosts, Korra's smg is basically a shiny golden Ripper.
> 
> Also still tossing the idea around about killing Hiroshi


	20. Persistant As Fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You guys are gonna love me for this one
> 
> edit: fixed the damn italics

Everything was dark, and cold, tingly, and spinning. Cold air pressed against her skin, sending a chill through her bones. Or was her body just pressed entirely against metal? Was there any metal? Either way, it was cold and her body felt numb and prickly. And she wasn’t used to this kind of cold. This is the cold that filled hardened hearts or bathroom floors on barefooted winter nights. And it was dark, like, were her eyes closed?

“What the hell is going on?” she shouted. Or at least she thought she did. She couldn’t recognize the voice. Her head pounded at the sound and sent her spiraling again. The words echoed in her mind, bouncing off the walls of her skull. She willed a hand up to attempt to ease the ache. It wouldn't help but knowing she still had motor skills was comforting. Her hand instinctively dug into her hair for the source of the headache, she flinched as her fingers brushed a huge knot on her scalp. She sighed then slid her hand down her face. From what she could feel, her eyes were open. She blinked but everything was still dark, she held her hand at eye level but couldn’t see it, just a dark silhouette.

“So, I’m just stuck in all-consuming darkness. Did I die, or…?” she said. Her voice didn’t hurt her head as much but she could still feel the omnipresent cyclone she was still stuck in. She shook her head, slow and at first then faster, but that did nothing more than irritate her head to where it felt like her body were rocking like a small boat in a vast ass ocean. She reached for any solid object to anchor herself, assuming she was laying down but couldn’t feel the floor. Or a wall. Her mind was still trying to keep up with regaining bodily sensation and situational awareness at the same time. But all that was out the window when the damned gates of heaven opened up casting piercing white light all over the place. She grabbed for her eyes, desperately longing for the all-consuming dark since the light threw her for another spiral.

“I’m sorry, was that a bit too bright for you?” she was sure that wasn’t her voice but it sickened her just the same.

Her eyes were squeezed shut and covered by her arms. She knew she had better adjust to the light and quick because she was in no position to defend herself from whoever was here..., there…., wherever. She moved her arms and eased her eyes open. First thing she saw were purple stars, green stars, blue, black and then they faded away to white rock walls that pointed down, not up. Odd. She looked around and noticed that they closed in around her. She looked up and saw a platform pretty high up and some character with a weird hairdo behind a control panel glancing up at her. She looked down and saw her boots, tied, and hanging from a crane with a somewhat transparent blue sheet covering a dark starry sky in the backdrop.

She rolled her eyes, with a bit more difficulty, as she tried to calmly breathe through the anxiety washing over her. Her mind finally grasped the situation but the rest of her wasn’t too happy about it. Her body started to shake, from either the anxiety of realization, the freezing cold temperatures or from the blood that had likely rushed to her head, she wasn’t sure. All she could do was keep breathing until she could clearly think.

“Well since you’re awake now, I guess I can give you a rundown of the list of things to do now that you guys are here.” the voice said again. Pretty smug little fucker, arrogance was dripping from his voice. The voice was hauntingly familiar. It wasn’t her father. But it was a guy, her mind cycled through her list of sexualities in case an advance was made. She nodded, that part of her brain had defrosted too.

 _Dammit, think Asami!_ she thought. _Last thing I remember; waking up, Korra’s arm, dad. Lab, guns, Korra. Dad grabbed me, then he let me go, Korra. Korra, kicked his ass, damn, did Korra kick his ass. But then he… exploded?_

“You still alive up there? You stopped moving. You’re not even struggling, you ‘kay? Brain still functional? Huh? Wanna get down?” the voice cooed.

“Give me a second!” Asami shouted. _He did kinda explode, Korra was out cold and I was on the floor. I reached for her and then I was cold. Because I’m here. Blue sheet over the sky, white rocks, really cold…, I’m on fucking Elpis! And where the hell is Korra?!_ “Where the fuck is Korra!” Asami roared as she dropped, or raised her head toward the platform, glaring daggers down upon the guy at the panel.

“...You’re tied up, hanging about 20 feet off the ground in the cold, upside down. You don’t even know how long you’ve been hanging there and your first complete spoken thought is where your, I’m guessing, girlfriend is?” the voice was getting more familiar. “I-I, don’t get it. How could you, a Siren, brought up in the lap of frigging luxury by your brilliant father, run away and fall for the bandit princess?”

Her head was still pounding but “I’ll kill you,” still rang in Asami’s ears, as if Korra had said it herself.

“Oh, ho ho, I’d love to see you try. See, ‘cause the way this is set up, the only one you’ll be killing is the hella gorgeous chick hanging from the ceiling here.” the voice responded. “Funny though, how you couldn’t hear your lady friend up there screaming your name but heard ‘bandit’ loud and clear.”

Asami cracked a smile. “I don’t think she likes me as much as she hates being called a bandit.” Asami coughed out a chuckle. “Hey, uh, I’m just gonna let myself down, cool?”

“Sure, sure.” the voice said.

Asami folded herself over reaching for her tied legs. Her body protested the entire way; cramping muscles, numb limbs, bruised areas she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Singed and ripped clothes would helped locate those bruises in case she needed it. Thankfully someone tied her up in a butterfly knot, something fairly easy to get out of. Of course she didn’t think too much on it as she held onto the rope before untying the knot, letting her legs unfold and dangle in the cold air. The Siren could feel warmth rushing back into her body like water rushing from a broken dam. She was actually surprise she could support her body weight after what had happened. Once she had regained a comfortable amount of feeling in her legs she dropped down onto the platform and crumbled to her knees. Guess her strength had come back yet.

“Glad you decided to join us front and center,” the guy attached to the voice said. He turned to Asami and she recognized him as soon as she saw the pins holding his mask to his face. Rage replaced the newfound warmth in her body as she sprung forward, small crackles of electricity covered her arms.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!” Jack held his hand over an obnoxiously large red button at the center of the console he stood behind. Asami skid to a halt, which hurt quie a bit. “You, must not have taken in the whole situation yet, poopie. See, Korra, that’s your name right?” Jack paused as he looked up at a round metal portal-like structure high in the opposite wall. Glowing rocks with symbols that were similar to those on Asami’s arm lined the metal ring.

And Korra, battered and bruised, hung suspended: her arms and legs were chained to damn thing.

“See, Korra here is gonna help me exact my revenge. You are supposed to be on Pandora, where my daughter is, charging the damn Vault Key. Instead, I’ve got her pumped full of Eridium trying to charge it because you ran away, nowhere to be found. Until Hiroshi found you.” Jack announced. “See, I thought you two would never want to see each other again, he never really expressed much interest in finding you, and what kind of daughter do you have to be for you own father not to want to find you?”

Asami was hardly listening, she focused on Korra, barely conscious and hanging from what looked like some crazy Eridian torture device.

“Hey, pay attention, I’m insulting you, here!” Jack lowered his brow. Asami tore her gaze from Korra and glared daggers at Jack. “There you go! Now, where was I…. Yeah! Korra! So, okay, now, have you heard of Tungstee… Tungsteena…., oh god, I can’t say this without laughing, hang on.” Jack chuckled. Asami’s face was hard as stone. She did all she could not to lunge at him, not to mention she could feel how drained her energy was. All she could do was wait.

Jack breathed after a giggling fit. “TUNGSTEENA ZARPEDON” he chuckled through the name. “Okay, I-I said it, she was the leader of the Lost Legion, some band of ex-Dahl soldiers, right? She and the Legion found this cave, like literally this one, and got some crazy-ass Siren like powers from the Eridian guardians. Now I’ve got an Eridian guardian; captured, and of course not willing to cooperate and,  I’ve got me a Siren who also, I’m assuming, is not willing to cooperate. But since I’ve got some leverage, I may be able to change your mind. I’ve been trying to test this out but all my guys are wimps and don’t want to try it since the Legion wiped out Helios before. Also the guys we tried it on were weak and ended up dead before we even really got started.

“Now, Korra here, tough as nails, bandit princess--”

“I… will… seriously kill… you. And… Hiroshi’s fat--fat ass, too.” Korra grumbled. Her voice was weak and every word tugged at Asami’s heart.

“Riiiiiiight,” Jack’s sarcasm was rage-inducing. “Korra is gonna be my next specimen. Now this may actually work because I’ve got a Siren this time to help amplify this guy here.” Jack gestured over to a tall, lanky, white creature, about as conscious as Korra was, in a glass tube that was wired up to the ring Korra was chained to. It opened its eyes? and glanced at Asami. It looked weak, drained, just like she was. She felt connected to it, like she knew it. It was a guardian, probably one of the last.

“See, your charge-y powers are gonna go through this Eridian monster thing here and translate those powers to Korra.” Jack chirped.

“She clearly wants you dead, not that I don’t feel similarly, but, why give Siren-like powers to someone with ill intent towards you? She’ll likely break out of that and murder you.” Asami growled.

“Yeah, see, I’ll be long gone before that happens.” Jack replied. “You, however...,” Jack quickly lifted an arm, displaying a small cannon strapped to his wrist. It fired a small purple thing right at Asami that clasped around her neck. It was nearly suffocating but she could feel it rejuvenating her. Her energy began swelling inside her, and then it overflowed. Electricity covered her arms, her tattoos glowed bright, nearly washing the room in purple.

“I’ll hurry before you can’t hear me,” Jack continued. “The collar is gonna channel all your power to the guardian here, who is gonna power this ring thingy, which is gonna attempt to give Korra these powers. Now, hold in mind, there were hella Lost Legion soldiers, only a few got these powers. I assume the rest died. They were also pretty mindless once they got the powers, in my opinion, and killed whatever invaded their space. Now, the guardian will be released once this is done and he may protect you. However, if you live, you’ll be charging my key.”

As if on queue, loud humming sounds flooded her mind as if she were thinking them herself no sooner did Jack finish talking. Dark purple bolts covered her. Her body couldn't contain all the energy that was flooding out of her, she could feel small pricks of electricity plucking at her skin. Especially at her right side. It felt like her tattoo was being branded into her skin. Her left hand came to its aid, cradling it at the elbow. She could feel control being ripped from her body as she struggled to keep herself from folding onto the floor. She screamed, or she might have. All she could hear was humming that got louder the longer she tried to fight. She felt sharp pain in her knees, then heaviness: she assumed she hit the floor and the palms of her hands followed.

Asami felt another gust of air leave her mouth. She started to notice that it was getting harder to hold herself up.  Her body began to twitch, ready to crumble under her own weight. Then suddenly everything was normal. She heard laughing and her name. She was certain it was her name.

"Oh geez, I am so sorry. I had it turned up too high. But that seemed really freakin' effective. Like, damn, girl you got all this damned power." Jack laughed. Asami craned her head, peircing purple eyes glanced at him. "Uh-uh don't wanna do that. I will turn this thing back on."

"Asami!" Korra cried. Her voice sounded spent but she could hear her fighting against her chains. Purple glowing eyes met blue ones as Asami tried to balance herself on her hands. "You fucking bastard! What did you do to her?" Korra’s broken voice roared.

"I'm about to tell you. I have the decency to at least let you guys know how I'm screwing you over." Jack chuckled. "That last bit was a test run by the way. Once I open the channel between these two freaks, you are gonna get loaded with so much Eridian bullshit that you'll either turn to a Siren your damn self or die from the overload. It's gonna be so awesome--"

The humming came back, but it was much less invasive. Like actual humming, soft and soothing. "Siren," said a voice through the humming. "Do not be alarmed. I am a Guardian. What this man is doing, it can be survived. Your friend will suffer much pain, and she may not be the same after, but she may live.”

“Okay, you’ve got a weird look on your face…” Jack rose an eyebrow. “Anyway, I’m gonna go. I’ve got a control core to be at. Vault Hunters are persistent as fuck. You’d think after I killed their damned bird they’d back off. Anywho, I’m gonna run. Got bandits to kill. I'll catch you later if you survive, 'Sami. 'Kay buh-bye now!" Jack sauntered off, then froze and pressed some buttons on his wrist cannon "Sorry, forgot to initiate this. Alright, now I'm out."

Asami felt the humming this time before it was 'audible'. Her arms collapsed and her head was only kept from plummeting into the hard metal floor by her forearms. She could hear herself scream this time, but she didn't remember opening her mouth. She heard chains eerily jingling in the background, desperate gasps for breath and screaming. Asami willed her head to raise, hoping that she could make eye contact with Korra and maybe it could ease the pain.

"Focus, Siren! If you lose control you'll kill us all." Guardian urged. Asami was surprised she could make out anything it said.

 _What the hell should I focus on exactly?!_ she thought as angrily as she could, hoping that was how she was supposed to reply. Her vision was flushed with purple light. Or maybe her energy had lit the room. Either way everything was tinted purple, her mind was a whirlwind and everything hurt. Korra writhed in her chains, her body struggling to recoil from the pain but tied too tightly to oblige. Her mouth was open but no sound came, at least none Asami could hear, if she’d even be able to. Her blood boiled, none of her pain mattered anymore. It burned away like her tattoos burned into her side. It faded and left no trace. Asami had to save Korra, or either watch as she died in front of her or tore her to shreds.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [not] sorry


	21. Yes, Dear

_Everything is… wet? And bright. Warm? But it hurts, too. Alot, actually. But I can’t scream, My throat, it’s dry and scratchy and it feels raw. It’s all I can do just to keep breathing…. Asami…, she’s here, right? Maybe she can help._

Korra’s face dripped with sweat, tears, a bit of her own saliva, but no blood. Her head hung, all the energy had been sapped from her. All she could do was hang and wait. Try not to die was on that list, too. She felt her her muscles constrict several times every few seconds, it made her laugh because it tickled a bit but she wasn’t sure if her mouth reflected it or not. _Now is not the time to flex for Asami,_ she mentally chuckled. Her eyes cracked open after being jammed shut for so long. They didn’t open very wide and couldn’t see very clear, but she could make out all the purple electricity and the bright purple lights that flashed on the rocks around her. She could just barely hear ghastly moaning, or chanting. Maybe it was the sound of her ears ringing and compensating for what she thought was happening. Asami, or the figure where Asami was standing if it weren’t her, was trying to push herself to her feet.

“Hey... hey, d-don’t push yourself, I’m okay.” Korra’s hoarse voice squealed. She doubted Asami could hear. Who was she kidding? She was lying anyway. She was far from okay. Lightyears from it. She was literally bound and tortured into a state of tranquility where she can’t even feel things anymore. Tortured numb. It would be frightening if only Korra could think about it. But she couldn’t, she was being shocked likely to death and if she didn’t die she’d turn into a rage monster that would kill the only other person she gave a few fucks about.

Her muscles spasmed again, causing her head to twitch a bit, well a lot. It hurt but at this point what doesn’t? She smiled again, for sure this time. She attempted to turn her trembling vessel to look at Asami, who looked like she was getting on her feet. She wasn’t sure but it seemed she had controlled some of the purple lightning, it was starting to wrap around her instead of just raining down on her. Korra’s vision began to blur and her body twitched again but a bit harder this time. Another tremor came and shook her body again.

“Oh, now this is different,” Korra grit her teeth, her fists clenched. A wave of energy surged through her, causing her head to buck. There was humming, loud invasive humming that rang in her ears. It felt like something was tearing her consciousness from her body, like it was ripping her soul out of her. She did what she could to try to hold onto it. But everything hurt, everything. Even the 'hands' she used to try to hold herself in.

“ _Korra, just hang on_!” Asami’s voice called through the humming.

“My voice doesn’t work right now.” Korra squealed, surprised that words were able to form.

 _“It’s okay, just, uh, focus on my voice._ ” Asami replied.

“Are you in my damn mind? Is this-- hang on” Korra shut her eyes. _“Is this a new Siren power of yours? Does this mean I have Siren powers now? Oh, by the way, this thing is trying to rip out my soul or something. Can you stop this?”_

 _“I- what? ...I’m not sure, but shut up a minute, I’m trying to make this crazy shit not kill you.”_ Asami said quickly.

 _“Okay, well in case this does kill me, I love you and I’m totally down with you exploring other options when I’m gone. Just not that Iroh… well I killed him. Well just make sure it’s someone you’d think I’d like cause I don’t want to leave you to some asshole.”_ Korra thought?

 _“First of all, Korra, this is not the damn time for that. Anyone you’d like is probably an asshole and I’m fucking saving you. Don’t give me that ‘when I’m gone’ bullshit. Now shut the fuck up and let me save you._ ” Asami ordered.

“ _Yes, dear,”_ Korra had either forgot about all the pain she was in or Asami was actually saving her life. Her eyes opened again with much less protest. She turned her head to Asami who had all the electricity wrapping around her arms, except now they looked like beams of light that flowed up one arm, around her shoulders, and down and away from the other. She had the ‘sending’ hand pointed at the funny looking thingy in the glass cylinder across the room. Her receiving hand was pointed at Korra, pulling all the energy from her. The white thingy was pulling energy from Asami and pushing it to Korra.

Asami was working like a filter, purifying the evil Handsome Jack energy and replacing it with awesome, Asami, Siren power energy or something. Korra could feel it around her, that vibrating thing that Asami usually does. It shook her shoulders and her armband glowed and swirled with purple light particles. Korra smiled and shut her eyes again, set to focus on survival. Shortly after, Korra could feel something growing inside her, filling her body and she welcomed it. It felt alien, yet familiar and warm. It vibrated her very bones as it expanded. Then it overflowed. Her head whipped back and every orifice cast out a beam of purple light.

" _What the hell is happening?_ " Korra thought.

 _"You're, like, vomiting lights right now, are you okay? How do you feel?_ " Asami replied.

 _"Uh, I dunno. Weird? Kinda ready for this to be-- aw what the fuck?!"_ Korra hunched over as much as her binding would allow. It felt like whatever was pulling at her snapped it back. The recoil felt like a kick to the stomach and the feeling flooded throughout her body. Her eyes jolted open, the purple lights receded once the kick to the stomach had been dealt. Asami had pulled the collar from her neck, the Guardian had been released and climbed out of the glass pod. They both looked up at Korra who was gasping for air.

"You okay up there?" Asami shouted.

Korra quickly threw up a thumbs up in her shackles. "I'd love to get down though." Korra rasped.

"Yeah, of course." Asami shook her head as she headed for Jack's control panel. She was quickly able to find the sequence of buttons that released Korra and pressed them. She flinched as the Eridian ring quickly deposited Korra onto the diamond plating with a loud clang. Asami scrambled to Korra kneeling by her side.

"Could've warned me first, Asami." Korra coughed as she tried to push herself on her feet. Asami grabbed her arm to help her up.

“Sorry,” Asami muttered as she pulled Korra’s arm over her shoulder and secured her own around Korra’s waist. “Besides that, how do you feel?”

“Um, itchy, actually.” Korra replied. “But on the inside? Is this how you feel?”

“Not at all actually.” Asami raised an eyebrow. She turned to the guardian who had cautiously floated over to them. She welcomed it with a smile. _“Not sure if you can still hear me, but thank you._ ” she nodded.

“I can hear you but you may speak.” the guardian spoke in a celestial mystic voice.

“What did you say to it?” Korra rose a brow at Asami.

“I told them thank you for helping me save your ass.” the siren grumbled.

“So, Guardian, do I have these powers Jack said I’d get?” Korra asked, voice still somewhat hoarse.

“Yes, the transfer of powers was successful. You are now an Eternal.” the Guardian replied.

Korra nodded with an expectant smile. “Sweet, how do I use them?”

The Guardian levitated from its feet and floated in front of Korra, pausing as its head looked her over before meeting her eyes. “You should never use them if you want to retain your current form. The powers you possess are that which should only belong to those of Eridian blood. Only the Sirens can maintain a human like form and use their abilities, you, however, are not a Siren. Your abilities can only be fully utilized once your life is in danger.”

The Guardian rose a wiry white arm, covered in much less complex symbols than Asami’s, and touched the center of Korra’s chest where a purple spiral symbol now resides. “You have been given the abilities of the Frenzy as well as the Phasewalker. Once you tap into your power you can move between dimensions, bending time and space itself. You can also summon a great staff you can use to battle your enemies. However if either is used too close to death, you will ascend and take up a form in the likeness of the Sentinel. You will not be able to remain in your human form.”

Korra’s brow furrowed. Powers seemed like more of a burden than a blessing at this point. She resented the itchy cottony feeling that crawled beneath her skin, like the power was urging to her to release it. She breathed a sigh and nodded. “I see.”

“You may still use, and strengthen your abilities at any time so feel free to become familiar with them, however be very wary of them when you life force is low.” The Guardian warned.

“I understood that the first time, but reminders are good.” Korra nodded again as she tried to drain some of the sarcasm from her voice while speaking to an Eridian Guardian.

“Siren, you two must stop that man from unleashing the Warrior. He knows not of the power he seeks." It said.

'That's actually is in the process of being handled by some other people. There are two Sirens among them. But I suppose we can help in some way." Asami shrugged. "Also the fact that we're pretty much stranded on the moon with no oxygen so we can't really even move from here."

"I am weak, but I can use some of my power to move you to the nearest human settlement. Concordia I believe it is called." The Guardian said. "I will stay behind until my energy is replenished then I will return to my own planet. What this man is trying to achieve is too great for my power alone to stop."

"Can we get back to Pandora from there?" Korra titled her head up at Asami.

"Actually, we can." Asami smirked. "That would be great, Guardian. Thank you."

The Guardian nodded. "Hold still."


	22. Shallow Grave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didnt run off again i promise! Got tied up in a bunch of stuff sorry guys.

"...Now I'm even itchier. And now we're stuck on the moon!" Korra threw up an arm. "And the bitch took my NewU registration chip."

"You had just gotten out of bed, how could you have had it on you anyway?" Asami grunted, fatigue began to set in after lugging Korra around. The Guardian did the hardest part getting them back to Concordia but damn, the girl isn't heavy as hell. 

"Mine was between my teeth." Korra replied. "Hey, you can let me go if you want. I think I can walk." She steadied both her bare feet on the ground and pulled her arm from Asami's shoulders. 

"You sure?" Asami's arm lingered around Korra's waist, happy for the momentary relief.

"Uh huh. I can manage." Korra teetered until she found her balance and ambled along. "I take it that we're headed to Moxxi's bar?"

"Of course. If I can find a way to contact her, we could probably work a way to fast travel back to Pandora." Asami replied.

"Word. By the way, can we find some shoes? The floors are fucking freezing." Korra grabbed her forearms.

"Well, Moxxi probably has some clothes back at her place." Asami pointed at the dark bar with the pulsing neon lights and loud music.

"Oh great. Bet she has another one of those demonically soft beds, too." Korra huffed as she hobbed towards the bar. Asami followed close behind. The familiar squealing and wubbing of the ever present dubstep music wailed in their ears as they stepped in. Korra nodded along before grabbing a seat in front of the bar. Asami walked in slowly, cradling her head from the loud music. 

"Asami!" the thick accented B4R-BOT model yelled. He was always especially loud. And his Elpis accent didn't do much to help. "Never thought I'd see you back here after you and Mox' high tailed it!" Asami couldn't fight the smile. All the Claptrap models on the moon had been purged by Jack not too long ago but she was glad to see this one was still here.

"Never thought I'd see you, either." Asami replied as she sat down next to Korra. 

"Yeah!" the bartender replied. 

"How has everything been since then?" Asami asked.

"Except for when Jack came and collected all the other CL4P-TP models everythings been the same, mostly." the bartender said. "That scary assassin sheila been 'round here every now and then. People say she hangs out above the city sometimes, then just off and disappears."

Korra scowled and rolled her eyes. Her lips puckered into a fierce pout. Asami's face was blank. She shrugged at the information. "That's cool." Asami answered. "Hey, Moxxi's stuff is still here right?"

"Yeah, yeah. You know where it is, yeah? Same place as always?" the bot turned to clean some glasses before rolling off to continue his duties.

"Yeah, thanks." Asami tapped the counter as she slid off her bar stool. She placed a hand on Korra's shoulder and nodded her head in the direction of a side room as she walked past. Korra cautiously hopped off her stool and followed Asami to a pair of slot machines, identical to the ones at the bar in Sanctuary. The siren pulled and slightly twisted the lever for the one closest to some shutters on the wall. The slot machine whirred as the rollers spun. One by one they stopped on three pictures of Marcus.

"Sweet, a gun." Korra smirked as the prize tray popped out, revealing a small switch. "...Or not?"

Asami gave Korra a small smile as she pressed the switch. The shutters opened to a dimly lit workshop with some unfinished project laid out on the table. A few lock boxes sat on a shelf above a workbench, drawers and cabinets lined the whole left side of the room. A wheeled desk chair was pushed to the side of another shuttered part of the wall on the right.

A small hat hung from the headrest. Asami smiled as she grabbed it by the rim. She looked at it endearingly as if it held a million fond memories. She traced a finger over the grease stains on its front panel and brushed some dust from the top before placing it neatly back on the headrest. Korra watched intently, hoping Asami wouldn't, like, cry or anything. She also hoped the hat wasn't Athena's because then Asami may cry since Korra would have to burn the damned thing full of holes. Or she would if she still had her pistol, which she doesn't. She left all her stuff in Sanctuary. Luckily enough, since Jack would have undoubtedly taken those new Future Industries guns. 

Asami turned around with a soft smile that ripped Korra from her thoughts. Korra's eyes snapped back to her face, trying to bring her suspicion about the hat back into her mind so that her expression matched it. 

"Moxxi and I used to work on stuff here." Asami said quietly. "She liked to keep it a secret, wanted to keep the sexy barkeep slash tournament organizer front up. She could build an engine faster than anyone I've ever seen and repair one even faster."

"Sounds like you guys had fond memories." Korra smiled.

"Yeah. When I first found out, some guy was playing the slots. I walked past and he started hitting on me. You know how I handle stuff like that, told him I was a lesbian, but he wouldn't hear it, the poor drunk bastard. So I had to shove his head into those shutters, which at the time were much weaker, and found walking sex Moxxi covered in grease wearing this hat and some ratty clothes. She had Scooter bury the guy I drove through the door alive but since I helped her fix something she was stumped at working on I got to escape the shallow grave. It was all history after that."

"That seems fitting for you two, actually." Korra shrugged. 

"Yeah, she used to tell me about her ex-husbands while we worked. We talked about building moving platforms and all sorts of crazy things for the Underdome once she found the real estate to rebuild. Jack destroyed the first one after they broke up." Asami smirked.

"Somehow, I'm really not surprised by that." Korra shook her head. "Word was that he cheated Mordecai out of a chance with Moxxi."

"Yeah, it wasn't very pretty." Asami shuddered. She quickly straightened and turned to the workbench. "Enough of that. We need to find a way to get back. If you hit the yellow button and turn the key in that switchbox downstairs at the end of the hall. It'll open up her living quarters. You could probably find some clothes to wear and catch some rest."

"It's still early. I'm not tired right now." Korra lifted an eyebrow. 

"Well you've been through a lot. I thought you'd want to take a break to rest for a bit. And probably warm up some." Asami said as she reached for the ECHO on Moxxi's workbench. 

"Yeah, but I'm fine. The floor isn't very cold in here. I can manage." Korra turned the desk chair backwards and sat in it. She rested her chin on the top of the headrest next to Moxxi's hat.

"You sure?" Asami asked as she already began tinkering with the device in her hands, looking up at Korra between tasks.

"Yeah." Korra nodded. "Jack had you hanging upside down for hours. I'd figure you be in worse shape than me."

"Oh, no.... I'm fine." Asami smiled shortly before returning to fixing the ECHO. "Well, I don't know how entertaining it'll be watching me try to fix this."

Korra's mouth rolled into a smile. "You'd be surprised."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so i may or may not be back in my regular schedule. But i will say that i do have a pretty clear idea the ending. (ive seriously been winging it the whole time) so id say there are roughly 3-5 chapters left. And the end is gonna be pretty crazy. Which may end up need two to three chapters. But the girls have stuff to do before then.


	23. Wide Open Spaces

“Asami! What the hell happened to you and Korra? Some Hyperion bot blew a hole in the housing quarters and carted you two and some fat guy out. How in the hell did you get to Concordia? Is my workshop okay? Did Korra see? What am I saying of course she did, dammit. Is B4R-BOT taking care of my bar? That ones my favorite!” Moxxi voice crackled over the ECHO that sat on the workbench table. 

“Moxxi, everything is fine. Well, kind of. My dad attacked and kidnapped us and sent us to Jack on Elpis, but we escaped. Jack is on Pandora now, though." Asami answered with a reassuring tone.

"Yeah, he killed Roland." Moxxi replied flatly.

"He... he what?" Asami stammered.

"Jack met the Vault Hunters and Roland while they tried to free his daughter from the control core she was charging the Vault key at. They shut it down, and she immediately died but Jack showed up and blew a hole in the big guy's chest, kidnapped Lilith, and he's got her charging the key." Moxxi answered. 

"Fuck." Asami slammed a fist on the workbench causing the odds and ends on it to rattle. "That was supposed to be me, Moxxi."

"Shot in the chest or kidnapped and charging the key?" 

"Both maybe."

"Korra wouldn't let that happen."

"Jack was about to have her kill me."

"What? How? Is she okay?"

"Long story, but yeah, she's fine. I'll tell you all about it when we get back there, which is actually why I ECHOed." Asami straightened her back, placing her hands on her hips. "We need a way back to Pandora. I know there's no way we're flying down without Jack knowing so we're gonna need one hell of a fast travel." 

"Wow, that's a tall order you got there, toots." Moxxi chuckled. 

"Nothing you can't handle, right?" Asami smirked.

"Negative, all my tools and stuff are up there with you." Moxxi muttered. "But I could get Scooter on it. You guys may not get back here for a few days."

"We should be okay. Your bar backrooms seem to have been more than accommodating whenever we get stranded, Miss Moxxi." Asami replied.

"I aim to please, Miss Sato." Moxxi replied, throwing a wink to Asami’s way. "Well, at any rate, you're lucky I haven't thrown away all your Concordia internal control system notes that you made me keep for you."

"Well aren't you sweet." Asami smirked. 

"Of course, sugar that's my job." Moxxi said. "But since there isn't much to do around there, and I don't hear Korra bumping around, at least tell me what happened to the two of you. You won't be down here for a good while and who knows what Jack will do now that he's got Lilith."

"I'm kinda interested about how Korra would tell it. I was unconscious for the most - well she might have been too, but still." Asami raised her voice as she walked towards the rolling chair in the corner of the room. She dragged it in front of the workbench and slouched into it. 

"Well, tell me the part where Jack almost had her kill you." Moxxi pleaded. "Also, how in the world is she not there with you?"

"She was, but she got restless. I told her she could go hang out in town since she refuses to rest. So she's probably out trying to find a way to get an oxygen tank and escape." 

"Hope she doesn't run into anything out there. Elpis creatures are much more different than Pandoran ones."

"Yeah well, you know Korra."

"Just don't go chasing after her again. You scared the hell out of her."

Asami shrugged. "She's not really afraid of me anymore."

"Lucky her. So how are you gonna get her back to Concordia?"

"She'll come back on her own."

"You trust her enough for that?"

"I'm inclined to."

"Wow, look at how much you've grown."

"Yeah, so much growth. I trust two people now instead of just one."

"Tell me about the the part where she almost killed you."

"Well, we sort of helped each other out of that." 

"How so?"

Asami sighed, placing a foot on the ground and spinning the chair twice before beginning to speak. She picked up Moxxi’s hat from the workbench and put it on backwards. "Jack tried to turn her into some Eridian rage creature. He used my powers and a captured guardian to transfer the powers into her in some weird cave. It might have worked if the guardian hadn't told me how to control the energy. The three of us were connected somehow during that ordeal. I could hear Korra's random thoughts, which somewhat helped me control my powers. So Jack didn't turn her in a monster but Korra's got some type of weird powers now."

"Holy tits, I bet she's pumped about that." Moxxi chuckled. 

"Well she wants to know what they do, but apparently if she uses them when shes too close to death she might turn into the 'likeness of the Sentinel'. At least that's what the guardian said." Asami sighed as she rocked her chair back and forth. "She's being responsible about it for now, but since she's out doing who knows what, she may figure out what her powers do, at least. Hopefully she doesn't get herself killed."

"You sound worried." Moxxi cooed.

"I am" Asami grumbled.

"Go find her then."

"No!" 

"You want her to know that you trust her."

"Yeah, I guess I do." 

"And I take it you two don't have ECHOs to contact each other."

"Nope."

"She'll come back."

Asami smiled and nodded. "I know."

____

 

"Goddamn!" Korra swore as she fell to her knees, gasping for breath. She crawled back into the atmospheric bubble that surrounded the passageway back into Concordia. "No one fucking told me there was no damn air out here! How does the lava stay hot? Why isn't it cold?"

"After a while you just stop questioning it, mate." said a voice from the passageway. Korra looked up, quickly pushing herself to her feet. Not like she could do much to defend herself at the moment without a lot of improvisation: she was unarmed.

"Who are you?" Korra demanded, pointing a threatening finger. Her eyes met the others, covered in way too much eyeliner. Well her only reference for make-up was Asami, so in comparison it was entirely too much. But then how could you compare things to perfection? Her hair was short, blonde and tucked into a headband, and her nose and cheek were bandaged.

"Name's Janey Springs." she said. "And you must be some kind of looney, heading out here with no guns or an Oz kit."

"The fuck is an Oz kit?" Korra grumbled.

"New to Elpis, huh? You another one of Jack's Vault Hunters or somethin'? Cause if ya are, I don't offer the same help that I used to. Jack's fucking loopy as hell now." Janey folded her arms.

At the mention of his name, Korra scowled. "No, I'm not working for that asshole. Bastard tried to kill me and my girlf--" Korra could feel the heat rushing to her face. Janey raised an eyebrow. "Well, my almost girlfriend I suppose." 

"Lucky gal. If I wasn't taken I'd probably try to scoop you up myself. Love me a girl with muscles." Janey smirked. "Whatcha doin' out here, though? It's pretty dangerous, and you don't look like you're in the best shape."

Korra looked herself over and winced. She was still in singed and torn clothes, and still without shoes. She smiled nervously as her hand made its way to the back of her head. "Yeah, I was nearly electrocuted to death."

"Tough one there luv. Hate it when that happens." the blonde shook her head sympathetically.

"I just wanted to go out and walk around for a bit. Cities and towns aren't really my thing. I prefer wide open spaces." Korra explained. "I also like hunting, so y'know, thought I’d check out the wildlife."

"Really?" Janey's face lit up. "I might have something you can do for me then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost at the finish line. Um, yeah... Dunno what else to say. 
> 
> But I do wanna gives some open appreciation to my awesome beta. You're the best.


	24. Self-Sufficient

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part one of what was gonna be one chapter but it got pretty long so i split it but luckily for you guys...

It had been a long time since she'd been up here. Nothing had really changed much; the city lights and lava pits still cast a golden glow on the platforms from below, Pandora was still a shining cobalt orb with a misty purple scar swirling from beneath its surface in the distance, and an expanse of stars still littered the night sky. Asami strolled to the furthest edge and sat down, letting long legs dangle over the edge. She huffed out a sigh as she leant on her palms, bracing herself on the metal floor behind her.

It was always quieter up here, although that might be because she was nearly always in Moxxi's bar whenever she was here. The buzzing and whirring of the satellite systems mounted on the roof always gave her a sense of serenity and helped getting her mental gears spinning. The air also felt more breathable up here, even with all the haze from the lava surrounding the city. Her mind wandered to Korra, who was basically experiencing Elpis for the first time. If she wasn’t out fighting the volatile wildlife, she would’ve felt great up here. 

Hopefully she’d found an Oz kit before heading out. And some type of gun. And hopefully she won't run into a damned Shuggurath or any of the remaining Lost Legion assholes still wandering around. And hopefully she wouldn’t fall into a lava pit...

Asami sighed and hunched forward, She folded her legs, bringing a hand to rest under her clenched jaw and settling the other on her thigh. "Why'd I let her go out there alone?" Asami sighed again. She craned her neck to peer over the edge, hoping she'd be able to catch a glimpse of the bounty hunter from up here. 

"Thought I'd never see you again. Let alone up here." said an unwelcome voice. 

"I'd say the same, except people have actually seen you here." Asami replied, lowering her brow as she gazed into a fire pit. 

"I think I'm most surprised to see you alone." Athena's trained steps were barely audible as she approached Asami, keeping a careful distance "Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"No." Asami answered shortly.

"Certainly looks that way." Athena replied.  
Asami let out a long sigh. The hand cupping her jaw now moved up to wipe over her face. "We were in a fight but we were not fighting." Asami explained as she stood. She turned with a step and threw a glare in Athena’s direction. "What do you want, Athena?"

"Nothing." the assassin replied. "How about you?"

"I don't want anything, you’re the one who approached me." Asami answered.

"You heard that I've been seen up here and you decide to come without your friend. Last time we met, you could have killed me. So I'd assume you're either here to finish the job or for something else." Athena hissed.

"I'm not here to kill you." Asami rolled her eyes. "Korra's out somewhere and Moxxi's on Pandora. I couldn't think of anywhere to be except here."

"Why not Moxxi's workshop?" Athena folded her arms suspiciously. 

"There's nothing to work on. Scooter has everything."

"Janey's junk is usually promising."

"She's gone, too."

"Nina's? She seems to take a liking-"

"No."

"...So this really was the last place in Concordia you'd rather be."

"It wasn't always that way." Asami's voice grew quiet. She turned her head away from Athena and at the swirling energy escaping the chasm that was the Eridium Blight on Pandora's surface.

"I... I suppose that was my fault." Athena sighed. "I'm sorry Asami but what Jack was planning was crazy. I honestly didn't think it would work, but it was my mission."

"Yeah." Asami replied coldly. "Well it worked. You're a hero, I guess. You helped the guy who almost killed Korra and me rise to power. And you know what? My father was happy enough to escort me here, right to him." Asami sneered.

"I didn't know he'd turn out like that. I had my suspicions, but I also needed the money." Athena maintained an even tone.

"Right, ‘cause that's all it's ever about." Asami huffed as shook her head. 

"What about your friend? Korra, right? She's a bounty hunter, not much different from an assassin." Athena shifted.

"Korra is nothing like you." the sirens glare was piercing. She took a step towards the crimson armored figure. "Korra hunts for sport."

"That's how it always starts, until you have a need," Athena began furrowing her brow and folding muscular arms across her chest. "Then 'sport' becomes a means to an end."

"Yeah, no. Korra is not like that. At all." Asami replied. 

"You think so now. You're supporting her now, I'm sure, but with your father working for Hyperion, I'm sure your well has been running low." Athena warned. 

"No, seriously. Korra would much sooner sleep outside and hunt for food than take jobs for blood money. She's never had a need." Asami replied with certainty. "And believe it or not, I haven't used a dime of Sato money since before I left Elpis."

"Well, I suppose I was wrong then." Athena's tone was cold, likely upset that she was proven wrong. "It's good that you two are self sufficient."

"Yeah, it is." Asami breathed. She folded her arms, and looked away again. "That worries me sometimes, though. She doesn't really need me. She's grown up on Pandora and knows the land almost like the back of her hand. And now she's out up here and, if she hasn't suffocated already she'll likely love it here. It's perfect for her; just the right amount of danger and there’s even frickin jump pads. Who knows if she'll even want to come back with me?"

"How long have you been up here, Asami?" Athena asked.

"About an hour." She answered.

"Long enough to be left alone in your thoughts." Athena took a step, further closing the gap between the two but still keeping a bit of distance between them. "Korra wanted to fight me because I'm sure you told her what happened between us. And she's still with you after being kidnapped by your father. I'm not sure how long she's been around before we bumped heads but that's a considerable amount of time between events. So what if she's out on Elpis, she's probably doing it to blow off steam or clear her mind. She’ll come back. Not many people risk their lives for others anymore unless it stands for something."

Asami's gaze dropped to her feet. Embarrassment washed over her due to getting advice from one of the most emotionally detached people she knew, a bit more over the fact that Athena had more faith in Korra at that moment than she did. She shook her head.

"Just because I messed things up don't expect Korra to do the same thing." Athena rested an awkward hand on her shoulder and quickly withdrew it.

Asami chuckled. "She'll kick my ass if I ever tell her about this conversation."

Athena smirked. "She should."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im posting part two right fucking now!!!!


	25. More Than Just These Buggers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so i was super pumped to post this particular part so much so that i kinda forewent my beta.... An edit will come for this chapter soon so excuse the poorly overlooked stuff.

"You didn't tell me these things spit fire... and break into smaller versions of themselves!" Korra shouted, she clutched some variation of a TMP as Kraggons closed in around her. 

"Sorry, mate. I'd gotten so used to these bastards I figure it's common knowledge for everyone." Janey blonde bangs swayed as she strafed and fired her cryo laser into a particularly large Kraggon. Pieces of its rocky skin froze over and broke off as the laser pierced through. 

"I'm not even from here! This knowledge is not common for me! Nothing is common for me here!" Korra yelled as she hosed bullets into a pair of small white mini-Kraggons. It took many more bullets than she'd like to kill one of these things. Even the babies. She backpedaled, her feet dragging against the ground as she released the empty clip and let it fall onto the cratered ground. She replaced it with a fresh one and resumed her onslaught. 

"You seem to be handling it pretty well, luv." Janey yelled over the humming of her laser and the cries of dying rock monsters. "Hey! Also, if they open up their glowy yaps to roar at ya, load their mouths full of bullets. Puts a good sting on 'em.

"Oh, like skags, then." Korra nodded as one opened its mouth to shoot a stream of flame at her. Korra reacted, sidestepping the blast and angling the wild spray of ammunition into the Kraggon’s lava coated mouth. It squealed in pain as it doubled back. Korra lifted her gun and took aim, ready to finish the beast off. 

"Look out below!" Janey yelled as she took a running leap, floating several feet in the air. Korra's gaze jumped back and forth between Janey, flying through the air like stray paper blown in the breeze, and the kraggon who probably was as confused as she was. The blonde spun around full circle at the apex of her jump before plummeting down with a hiss of air. Her boots made impact on the back of the kraggons rocky head with a burst of air, driving it into the white surface. She stepped off with a satisfied grin as the creature twitched a few times before finally stilling. 

"Damn, that would have been an awesome poster" Janey cursed as she bounded in a single leap to another kraggon, driving a hard boot into its nose...thing, then spraying it down with her laser. Korra snapped her attention back to the task at hand and sprayed her repeater into the few kraggons that surrounded her. Bullets bounced and cracked the rock creatures hardened skin. Frozen beams burrowed into them as they either froze over or fell from the effects. Carcases, pistol rounds and scorch marks littered the white landscape surrounding the pair. Janey slung her laser gun over her shoulder letting it dissolve into digistruct pixels and disappear. She let out a satisfied sigh.

"Nothing like kicking some kraggon arse to start your day." Janey clapped her hands together.

"This is an everyday thing for you?" Korra raised an eyebrow, reaching towards her thigh holster but instead getting a handful of the light grey pants that Janey had loaned her. She opted instead to keep her gun holstered in her pocket. A thick yellow stripe ran down the outside of both legs. The pants were way too big and nearly hung off her hips. She had to fold the bottoms up several times over and up her ankles just to keep from stepping on them. The jacket she wore matched the pants, but was too small. She had to wear it open for it to fit. The sleeves were ripped off so the yellow stripes only covered the shoulders. The jackets puffy collar rested under her jaw line. And of course, the only shoes she had were a pair of thong sandals, which actually were her size.

"Pretty much, yeah." Janey rested her hands on her hips and turned to face Korra. "Seems like this wasn't your first rodeo."

"No, just the first on Elpis." Korra shrugged. "Things are... different here. I'm not used to the gravity just yet. Also that air slam thing you did? Awesome."

"Stick with me and I'll show ya more than that." Janey winked as she brushed past. "Come on, there's more than just these buggers--"

They both turned as a magma covered mass roared as it tore through the surface of a lava pit nearby. It clawed at the ground, splashing red hot molten rock in plumes.

"Janey, I don't think I wanna see anything else right now." Korra took a step back reaching for her pistol at her thigh. She looked down in surprise when she found nothing but air. Janey stepped forward pulling the repeater pistol from Korra's waistband and pressing it against her side. Korra slipped her hand around the handle.

"I don't blame ya, mate," Janey bit her lip with a grin as she shouldered her laser. "Think you can handle this?"

"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" Korra shrugged as she clamped her empty hand under her wrist as she readied her pistol. 

The kraggon opened its mouth wide. Heat like a blazing furnace radiated out of it as flames and bits of superheated rock readied to spray out. Janey and Korra broke out in a wild sprint in opposite directions. Korra kicked off her sandals as she pointed her gun up and into the kraggons mouth but it shook off them off as she had thrown rocks. Red eyes snapped onto Korra as the kraggon began to turn its head, along with its molten stream towards her. Korra sprinted away, pistol still in hand. She could feel the insane amount of heat bearing down on her as the kraggons wave of lava rained behind her. She had her eyes set on a structure with a broken in door to find cover and focused entirely on that. Her legs galloped her arms flailed and the heat closed in around her. She was enveloped in dry blazing heat. It wasn't too much further to the building but it felt like it was getting further after every step. 

She'd be damned if she looked back at the kraggon trying to bury her in hellfire, all she could do was focus on the door. Into that building right there. Not this ever intensifying heat on her back, not that she could smell burning clothes or that she could feel something hot pluck against the back of her arm. She could vaguely hear Janey's laser firing and her screaming her name. She lowered her brow, feeling another few rocks burn the back of her bare bicep. She felt herself speed up, become lighter and everything sounded muffled. She used the fit of adrenaline to dive into the building behind a solid wall. 

She gasped for breath as she pressed her back against the lockers on the wall. The atmosphere in the room refilled the oxygen tank of her oz kit with a soft hiss. Flames and bits of molten rock and lava sprayed through the doorway right beside her. She threw up an arm over her eyes to shield them from all the heat but she didn't feel any. She sighed as she rolled onto her feet. She scrambled down a short set of broken stairs and looked back outside through a handrail separating the two levels. The kraggon had already turned its attention to Janey. Korra kneeled and aimed carefully at the ash covered rock monster. She peered over the sights of her gun and notice purple light over her arms. She shot a quick glance at her surroundings, seeing nothing but a huge divide likely created by an explosion or crash or inside the building behind her into another lava pit, a few more lockers and lock boxes. She ran a glowing purple hand through her hair before turning back towards the door. Janey seemed to be handling the kraggon fine on her own and that laser definitely-- 

Wait what?

Korra turned, pressing her back to the low wall under the handrail. She stared at her hands in confusion and followed the light up her arms down onto her chest and even over her feet. She shuffled, quicker than she intended, to her feet and towards a nearby locker with a mirror. She opened it, staring at a nearly translucent figure with glowing white eyes. She grinned a wide glowing smile.

“Fuck yes!” she muffled a yell as she pumped a fist into the air. She felt a slight twinge in her palm as brought her hand back down gripping a humming purple staff with two large round bulbs at either end. Korra examined the staff. It felt warm, like it was alive. "Uh, well, alright...then?" 

A loud roar pulled her mind back to the task at hand. Janey was still fighting that hellfire spraying death creature and she was inside smiling at herself in the mirror. While this isn't something she wasn't used to, Janey did know what the hell was going on on Elpis better than anyone else she currently knew and may critical to her overall well being at the moment. 

Korra ran out of the broken building holding the staff in one hand and the pistol in the other. She smiled a wide grin as she took off towards the kraggon. She felt weightless as she ran, her steps were much quicker than they usually were and she traveled what seemed like twice as fast. She stopped behind the kraggon, who apparently didn't know she was there. Janey ducked behind a rock which somehow was working as perfect cover. Korra leaped into the air and with the help of her oz kit well over the dark mass in front of her. Korra front flipped at the top of her jump, not to be outdone by Janey's spin earlier, and sprayed rapid fire pistol rounds into a cracked piece of earth at the base of the kraggons neck. It shattered open after a few rounds, exposing a little red spot beneath. "As good a weak point as any I suppose," Korra shrugged. 

She tossed the pistol aside and clutched her staff with both hands and engaged the ozkit to slam. As she came down the bulbed ends of the stuff shrunk and become pointed and almost blade-like. Korra smirked as she came crashing down, both bare feet landing on either side of the exposed area and the staff plunging through. The purple translucent glow that covered her body expanded in a purple ball of explosive light that drove the kraggon into the ground and just as quickly faded. Korra looked over her proudly looked over her work as she pulled the staff out of the kraggons neck and its just as soon shattered into purple particles and vanished. Korra knew at this point not to question it. She looked over at Janey with a cocky smirk. "How was that for handling it?"

Janey was wide-mouthed. "I just watched you get covered in kraggon fire vomit then all of a sudden you come flying outta nowhere and explode on top of the biggest badass kraggon that I've ever seen."

"I took cover in the building over there," Korra nodded towards the broken structure.

Janey looked as well and turned back to Korra, shaking her head. "Nah, luv, I never saw you make it in there. I thought you kicked it."

"Did you see my front flip?" Korra asked.

"I saw you run off to about there," Janey pointed about halfway to the building. "But I never saw you get away from it blasting at ya. Then, after it came at me, all of a sudden you come exploding down onto the ruddy thing with a purple pole."

"Aw, dammit." Korra's shoulders sunk. Embarrassment washed over her. She could feel her cheeks filling with heat..., and her face, and arms, and especially her feet. She was still standing on top of this hot ass kraggon and it was definitely burning her feet. "Daaaah! Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck," she shouted as she leaped off the smoldering lava beast and planted her feet on cold moon rock. She scrambled around, searching for an un-burned patch of ground she could find and buried her feet in it. As soon as she did she burrowed a hole with the handle of the pistol she recovered along the way. After a satisfiable amount of relief came she collapsed onto her back with a long sigh.

Janey shook her head with a grin. "Good going, hot shot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now when i wrote this I was like, hmmmm, Asami gets a conversation and Korra gets an epic moment. That's not fair. So I'm gonna fix that in these final few chapters following these. ;)


	26. Can I Leave This Here?

"What in the hell happened out there?" Asami blinked as Korra walked through Concordia's gates wearing a police hat and a dragging a huge kraggon by the tail. 

"I found this robot outside the gate. He was pretty trashed. Like all he could say was 'you're under arrest!' over and over. So Janey put it out of its misery and I took it's hat." Korra smiled. 

"Well, I was referring to the kraggon you're dragging. But that's also nice to know." Asami pointed. "And you said Janey was with you? Where's she?"

"She was behind me." Korra stood on her toes to peek over the kraggon. "I dunno where she went, she helped me get this guy in here. Well whatever, did you miss me?" she smirked.

"I was just hoping you'd come back in one piece. You look ridiculous by the way." Asami looked her over, pants way too big and jacket so small that she was inclined to believe Korra burst out of the sleeves. Her arms and bare feet were wrapped in bandages. "And you still don't have shoes."

"I did have shoes." Korra argued. "Lost them in the fight, which I totally need to tell you about." She continued toward Moxxi's bar tugging the kraggon behind her.

"Korra," Asami grabbed her shoulder. "There are people sized doors in Concordia." 

"Well can I leave this here?" Korra asked, with a hint of sarcasm.

Asami lowered her brow at her and opened her mouth to speak and then froze. There was no Meriff anymore and she was wearing CU5TM-TP's hat. "Actually, yeah, you can." 

Korra dropped the rock tail on the steel floor with a loud thud and followed Asami to the bar. As they approached the door Asami felt a pair of bandaged arms wrap around her waist. Korra pulled her close, pressing her nose to Asami's shoulder. 

"Sorry if I made you worry." Korra mumbled into her shoulder. 

"Too late for 'sorry' now, doofus." Asami smiled placing a hand over Korra's and running a hand through her hair. Asami sent a light charge through Korra that shook her at her core. She smiled as they looked to her armband, waiting for the familiar purple glow. White glowing light shone from her armband instead. 

"That's... different." Korra said. "Are you doing it right?"

Asami turned, breaking Korra's embrace but still holding onto her hand. "There's really only one way-- your eyes are glowing."

Korra beamed, literally. Her smile cast a glowing white light. "Yeah, that happens now. Check this out." Korra held out an open hand and her purple staff, which was glowing white too, floated above it. She closed her hand around it and tapped a bulbed end on the floor. Asami pulled her hand away from Korra to closer examine the staff. The white glow from it, as well as Korra's eyes faded, leaving only blue and purple.

Asami touched examined Korra's staff, running a hand over the bulbed end at the top. It felt smooth, almost like glass. The inside lit up with electric arcs as she pressed her hand against it. She pulled away, checking whether the electricity brewing inside would subside. But purple bolts continued dancing inside, bouncing off the surface of the bulbs and down into the narrow part in Korra's hand. Her armband began to glow purple and crackle with the same electricity.

"Does it feel different?" Asami asked. She checked Korra's eyes for any changes in color.

"It feels like the thing." Korra replied with a smile. "Our thing, right?"

"Cut it out, Korra." Asami blushed. "I'm trying to help you figure this stuff out."

"Okay," Korra breathed.

"Does your staff do anything that you know of?" Asami asked. 

"Well, I can make it levitate. And I can make it change shape. And all I have to do really is think about it." Korra replied. She turned her hand right side up and released the staff. It slowly started to levitate over Korra's hand. The bulbs flashed and thinned into sharp blade-like ends covered in electricity. "Apparently, I can disappear too. That's a bit harder to do though. Not sure how to do it at will."

"Hmm." Asami examined. She ran a finger across the edges of the blades, nearly cutting it in the process. They were sharp. Extremely sharp. She jumped as Korra released the staff and it dissolved into purple pixels.

"We can look into this more once we get back to Sanctuary. You can run all the tests you need in your lab." Korra said as she threw her arm around Asami's shoulders and walked her into the bar. "Let's enjoy ourselves before we have to go back to Pandora and kick Jack's ass. I'm sure you and Moxxi's minds combined will have us ready to leave in about two minutes anyway."

"Dad destroyed it." Asami growled. 

"What?" Korra stopped.

"When I spoke to Moxxi, she said dad had some Hyperion bot come get him after he knocked us out. It kinda smashed the living quarters." Asami sighed. "She was able to recover your guns though. Including the one we-...I made for you."

"Hiroshi Sato is on my 'Kill on Sight' list." Korra grumbled.

"Hey! Is that Korra I'm hearing?" Asami's ECHO device buzzed.

Korra grinned. "Hey Moxxi." she chirped. 

"How can you hear us? I turned this damned thing off." Asami cursed.

"I think Korra's rubbing off on you, Miss Sato." Moxxi chuckled. Korra giggled. "Anyway, I ECHOed to let you guys know that the fast travel is ready to go. I'll patch Scooter through with the details."

"Heeeeeyyyyyy there A-sami." Scooter nearly yelled over her headset. Korra’s quiet laughter continued. 

"Hello Scooter." Asami facepalmed. 

"Hi," Scooter replied. "'Kay so the fast travel should getcha back on Pandora, somewhere. Not sure where, though. I'm not very good with details and stuff."

"So, how do we know it won't drop us into a lava pit, or a rakk nest? Or even where Jack is trying to unlock this Vault?" Asami asked.

"I don't think I'd mind the last one." Korra cracked her knuckles.

"Nah, nah, no. None o' that stuff, sheeeesh! Gimme some credit, pretty lady!" Scooter said. 

"I have a girlfriend, Scooter." Asami replied out of instinct. Korra's eyes flew open.

"You do?!"  
"You do?!"

Korra and Scooter spoke simultaneously. Korra's grin was wide, her whole face contorted into the smile.

"Gotdogit! I just cannot catch a break now can't I? ...Catch-a-break..." he chanted weakly. Korra bounced around like a child. "But anyways, it'll take you to one of the fast travel stations on Pandora. Whichever one is the most direct line based on Pandora's planetary rotation and Elpis' position. Y'know, all that nerdy, sciency, space bullshit." Scooter's tone quickly returned to normal.

"Thanks Scooter." Asami sighed as she watched Korra dance around in the bar's doorway.

"By the way, sugar, once you guys get back here, have Korra get to a bounty board. I have her guns in a digistruct holster as a bounty reward for her: fully decked and everything. Just as you asked." Moxxi winked. Asami could hear the wink her her tone. "I appreciate how you're looking after your girlfriend, Asami. She's lucky to have you." Moxxi chuckled.

"I'm closing the comms now." Asami shook her head.

"We'll see you two later." Moxxi cooed.

Asami clicked her comms closed, turned the volume down, muted it and changed frequencies. 

Korra jumped into Asami arms, throwing her arms over her shoulder and her legs around her waist. Asami's face was straight but flushed with red as she held onto Korra's muscled back. She quickly looked up and into Asami's eyes.

"Wait, I'm the girlfriend, right?" 

______

Asami shook off the effects of fast travel better than she usually did. Adjusting to the gravity was going to be the hard part. Her body felt about fifty pounds heavier. Even taking a step seemed a bit tiring, so much so it took her a while to realize where they had ended up. 

Green grass and mountains, the grunting and shifting of stalkers nearby, and muffled drunken yelling. They’d ended up right outside Overlook.

"This is probably the best place we could have ended up." Asami groaned, feeling taxed from standing. She rested her hands on her hips, upset that only a few hours on Elpis could have this effect. Everything ached, it felt like her limbs were ready to fall off at their joints. She really really just wanted to sit down.

"Mind if we take a break for a sec? The gravity change is kicking my ass." Asami huffed as she leaned against the fast travel console. She heard the grass crunch like someone was hopping. She carefully turned her head to Korra bouncing and shaking out her arms. Korra planted her feet, threw a few punches, twisted at her hips, bent over forward and back before a semi-transparent purple light covered her body. She sprinted up the hill into the town at blazing speed, leaving nothing but ghastly trails of white.

Asami wasn't sure if her jaw dropped from the gravity or if she was that utterly astounded at what she had just happened. The guardian did say she had gained the power of a Phasewalker. "You just told me you didn't know how to do that you asshole!" she yelled after her. "And where the hell are you going?" The siren sighed as she dropped to the ground with crossed legs. She remembered that the towns bounty board was up there. No telling how out of place Korra felt without her weapons. 

Asami let her head fall back against the pole of the fast travel station. Her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed in fresh-- somewhat fresh natural air for the first time in hours. She let a smile ease onto her features, realizing she accidentally hooked up with Korra a while ago. Irony would have it that she would end up asking her out almost the same way she tried to keep her away a when they met.

"Goodness we've only known each other for about a month! How the hell does this happen?" Asami chuckled.

"Hey look! She back!" said an angry gruff voice.

"Oh dear," Asami sighed.

"That's that girl from before!" said another voice. Asami rocked her head forward. The two Zafords from before, the drunks that were lurking about the last time she was here, stood just outside their family bar. 

"Not today, please?" Asami pleaded, bringing her elbows to her knees and planting her head in her hands. 

"We're not nearly as wasted as last time, purdy lady." said the woman. They nearly touched shoulders as they approached.

"I think we should take you for a ride around town whaddya say?" the guy said. 

Asami sighed, dropped her hands to her knees and closed her eyes. Her tattoos glowed purple and electricity danced around the tips of her fingers, up her forearms and over her shoulders. Her hair waved as if wind was blowing it. She slowly opened purple eyes and coupled them with a menacing glare. "I said, 'not today'" Asami growled. The pair stepped back, fear apparent in their eyes.

"I think you oughta listen to my gorgeous girlfriend over there." Korra said as she ran to block their advance, still coated in purple, pointing both Future Industries guns at their chests. Her purple coating pulled away from her, expanding into a small bubble with a small explosion that blew the Zafords back and pulled some of her bandages loose. She readjusted pointing both guns at their heads, glaring with white eyes. The same sort of artificial winds blew Korra's hair and waved her loosened wraps. The Zafords froze in fear looking between the lighting storm around Asami and Korra's ghastly white eyes and glowing energy guns.

"I'd run before she kills you." Asami warned, craning her neck to peek around Korra. They both got up and scurried back inside the bar.

Asami settled her lightning storm and they both returned their glowing eyes to normal. They shared glances and then laughed uncontrollably. Korra reached both guns over the digistruct device as they both dissolved into tiny blue pixels. She approached Asami offering a hand up.

"I take it by how relaxed you look they didn't do anything to you." Korra asked with a smile.

"No, I'm still adjusting to the gravity." Asami grunted, taking Korra's hand as she wobbled to her feet.

"I can carry you if you want. We can go to my place if you didn't want to go all the way back to Sanctuary." Korra offered. 

"You? Have your own place?" Asami eyes were wide.

"Of course I do. I live here. In those mountains back there." Korra pointed to a mountain range in the distance. "I only stayed with you because you offered. And to recover when you cracked my spine." Korra chuckled.

"Fractured your tailbone actually." Asami corrected. "But sure, we can go. I still owe you your bike anyway. So you dont have to carry me."

"I forgot all about that, honestly, but since you offered again I’ll be happy to oblige." Korra bowed. Asami rolled her eyes as she trudged over to the Catch-a-Ride station. She typed up a bunch of stuff in a clicking flurry and shortly after a blue framed motorbike with silver pipes and a brown skag leather seat emerged from a wash of blue pixels. Korra's grin was massive and contagious as Asami couldn't help but smile herself.

"You're probably the best girlfriend ever." Korra squealed as she jumped on. She took both handles and wobbled them back and forth. Her eye scanned the entire dashboard, taking in every gauge button and switch.

"Tch, 'probably'." Asami scoffed as she stood next to Korra on her bike. She began to open her mouth to explain the controls but was stopped by an arm around her waist pulling her close.

"You are the best girlfriend ever." Korra said softly, still grinning.

"That's much better." Asami replied.

"I'd kiss you but I can't stop smiling." Korra giggled.

"There'll be time later." Asami chuckled.

"I don't want to break it, you drive" Korra pleaded, sliding back in her seat, giving Asami room to sit.

"Of course," Asami sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was more to this chapter too but i split it again. This time won't be two back to back ones. But the super epic finale is after this. Yay!


	27. Badass Loader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay now seriously, these chapters have parts. You can taste the finality! And in case no one noticed the fic has an end point now.
> 
> Edit: So.... I there's no such thing as a W4R loader I got a badass loader and this constructor called the w4rd3n mixed up. Whoops? So I fixed that. Back to regularly scheduled programming

Korra led Asami by the hand as they walked up a path behind a layer of mountains. Down a grassy path along a cliff wall was a waterfall that emptied into a lake in a valley, the lack of a salty twinge in the air suggesting that it was fresh water cascading from above. The setting sun painted everything a golden orange tint as they pressed on. The path cut into a small cave, right behind the waterfall. Dark blue tribal tapestries lined the rock walls and a hammock hung high on the far end of the cave, just in front of the waterfall. Torches lined the inside but the place was well lit at the moment.

"This is beautiful, Korra" Asami said as she slid her hand out of hers. She examined the tribal tools Korra had laying around with wide eyes. "Did you build all this stuff?"

"Some of it," Korra replied bashfully.

"Why didn't you ever come back here? This place seems perfect for you." Asami placed careful hands on the wall hangings.

"Well I ran into a cute mechanic who gave me a job that became a bit overwhelming." Korra smiled as she took off all her equipment and placed it on shelves and racks. Everything had a place, even all the new stuff she had, she made a place for. "Its good to be home at last." 

Asami watched with a smile as Korra placed her things. She shook out of her Concordia pants and peeled off her jacket, stripping down to the same tank top and shorts she wore the morning Hiroshi attacked them. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable, you're welcome to anything here. But I just need to catch some rest. I've been going non-stop for who knows how long." Korra yawned as she climbed into her hammock.

"I could use some sleep myself." Asami stretched. 

"Oh damn, I'm sorry. I've got a spare hammock. I'll put it up for you." Korra shook her head as she started to climb down.

"What's wrong with yours?" Asami asked as she stood just under the swaying hammock

"Well if you wanna sleep in mine that's cool, too. I'll grab the spare for myself." Korra smiled.

"No, Korra." Asami sighed, covering her reddening face. "I want to sleep in your hammock with you."

Korra eyes shot open. "O-oh, alright then." Korra stammered as a blush crept across her face as well. She slid over and held the hammock as still as she could. making room for Asami as she climbed in.  
"I don't know why you're acting all weird, we sleep in the same bed all the time." Asami sighed as she settled in. 

"This time it's different." Korra grinned. "'Cause, we're a... 'we' now."

"Uh huh," Asami nodded.

Korra was all smiles. Looking into Asami's green eyes and running her hands through her dark wavy hair. Asami's eyes looked away to hide the blushing. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Because, you're beautiful. And I should appreciate that more." Korra sighed. "My beautiful fucking girlfriend. I still can't believe this"

"What happened to waiting?" Asami asked.

"I could ask you the same." Korra still grinned like a fool but her tone didn't match. "I was sure you'd take it back or something."

"Tell me your reasons and I'll tell you mine" Asami replied.

"After Jack almost killed us I figured if you asked me right after I'd do it because I don't want to be put in another situation like that and die with a 'what if'." Korra breathed, tracing the lines of Asami's tattoos with her finger. "I planned on asking before we left Elpis but Scooter kinda made it super easy for me."

"I guess I figured the same thing." Asami smiled. Her smile faded as her hands slid over Korra's bandaged arms. "I need you to be careful Korra. I don't want to see you die, or turn into whatever a Sentinel is."

"Well, let me make this clear then." Korra sat up, rocking the hammock in the process. "If I have to, I will put my life on the line for you. Now, I sure as hell don’t want to. But if there is no other way, I'm saving you first. Don't argue with me, that'll just waste time and make it harder for us both. Just, if you can, give me a chance to say goodbye."

"Korra, no, I--" Asami's face twisted with surprise. She placed a hand on Korra's shoulder.

"I care about you. A lot." Korra said quietly, grabbing Asami's arms at the elbows. "I'm going to protect you if I need to. You charge Vault Keys. Jack might take you and try to find more Vaults. Can't have that. And it'll have to be over my dead body that that happens. You're pretty badass and I likely won't need to martyr myself, but in case I do, y'know?"

"You won't," Asami argued. 

"I might," Korra shrugged with a smile. "Listen, I'm not trying to scare you. Just- dammit, just say okay."

Asami ran her hand from Korra's shoulder down her arm and settled it on her armband. She leaned her head on her shoulder filling the space her hand left vacant. Asami's eyes met blue; lively, honest, bold, loving blue. Her eyes pleaded in ways Korra would never be able to say. Asami was sure she knew. Korra had always been good at speaking without speaking and Asami was good at understanding. "Okay." she breathed.

Korra scooped Asami up in her arms and laid back in the hammock. Asami rested her head under Korra's chin, her ear pressed to her chest. Her heartbeat was so steady even when she talked about actually dying; real, non-regenerative death. Asami always admired how brave Korra could be. Or maybe just kinda reckless. Or maybe both. She felt soft hands close around her arms, bronze thumbs smoothing over ivory skin. She took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly.

"Stop worrying about it, Asami." Korra yawned. "I’m invincible."

Asami smiled as she rested a hand on Korra's chest. "I know." 

_____

 

“I mean, she’s gonna think about it anyway, right? So let’s just make something up. Something crazy.” Korra laughed. “Tell her there were stalkers involved or something.”

“Korra, no, leave Moxxi to her own horrendous assumptions.” Asami said as she steered back down the mountain path. 

"Well, she's gonna make you miserable so I figured why not return the favor?" Korra replied, as she wrapped her arms around Asami's waist.

"That’s not returning the favor, Korra! That's fanning the flames." Asami protested as they turned towards the grassy fields where stalkers usually roamed. "Also, why don't the stalkers attack us? Isn't all wildlife on Pandora hostile?"

"Mostly, yeah. But the stalkers don't attack me because I love them so much." Korra smiled. "That and I had to show them who's boss by maybe snapping some of their arms? Tough love is still love, though."

"Makes sense. More than most other things on Pandora." Asami rolled her eyes. The bike bumped along the paved road, over the last hill and pulling into the Catch-a-Ride outside Overlook. They both quickly dismounted and approached the fast travel station. Asami headed towards the console and began typing furiously.

"Hey! I wanna try using the fast travel station." Korra chirped, placing her hand on Asami and peeking over her shoulders.

"Korra, listen. I like you a lot. But there is no way in hell that I'm leaving you responsible for transporting my body anywhere." Asami chuckled.

"Firstly, I'm pretty sure that's a lie." Korra paused. "Second, you always do it, show me how you do it." she whined.

"Korra, no." Asami said sternly.

"But we're just going to Sanctuary! Look, it's right there. Just let me press the damn 'go' button. Or sequence of buttons, I guess." Korra begged as she reached over Asami's shoulder.

"Okay, okay, fine!" Asami shooed Korra from over her shoulder. "Now pay attention." Korra stepped around to Asami's side and watched as she pointed to three keys on the panel. 

"You press this," Asami pointed.

"Uh huh," Korra nodded.

"This," 

"Uh huh,"

"Wait for the fast travel to triangulate,"

"Mmhmm"

"When it says 'Done. Ready to Initiate Travel' press this."

"Okay." Korra grinned as she cocked back her hand with an outstretched finger.

"Please just have us end up somewhere we could at least walk the rest of the way." Asami muttered.

"What'd you say?" Korra snapped her head in Asami's direction.

"I said I believe in you, sweetie. You can do it." Asami deadpanned.

"Sure," Korra side eyed. Her attention went back to the fast travel console. Asami turned her back and leaned against the side with folded arms. "What?!"

"What?" Asami asked.

"You're not gonna watch?" Korra asked incredulously.

"I shouldn't have to! I just told you what to do!" Asami matched Korra's tone.

"So what if I press a wrong button? And we die. Then what?" Korra folded her arms.

"Well we were together for less than 24 hours. I'll have no regrets." Asami rolled her eyes.

"Fine! I'll just start this bad boy up and see what happens since you don’t want to supervise." Korra threw her hands in the air. "And you wanted to take over Future Industries..."

Asami stood up from the fast travel console, fists thrown to her sides and covered in electricity. She gave Korra a fierce glare and Korra returned it with one of her own. She could see the hurt in Asami's eyes and realized she might have gone too far. This whole situation had escalated far too quickly. Korra's glare softened and she turned away, pressing her back to the opposite side of the fast travel station.

"I'm sorry," Korra sighed. "I, uh... I don't even remember what buttons to press anymore. You should do it." After a long moment the crackling of Asami's electrified hands subsided. She huffed a sigh.

"Yeah," she murmured. The Siren stepped in front of the console and clicked at the two buttons. She caught Korra glancing over her shoulder at the keys as she waited for the fast travel to initiate. She cracked a small smile. "Hey." she called. Korra peeked over her shoulder again. "I'm sorry, too. I should've watched you. Guess I'm just a bit on edge with you operating technology and Handsome Jack and... stuff."

"It's cool. I guess we're both a bit edgy." Korra replied as she turned her shoulders, leaning one against the fast travel.

'Done. Ready to Initiate Travel' the screen read.

"Ready to go?" Asami asked.

"Yeah, lets get this over with." Korra replied.

___

"Where are we?" Korra sighed as she stood in front of a fuming slag pond surrounded by pup skags.

"We were supposed to be in Sanctuary." Asami lifted an eyebrow. "Well this is fucking lovely." 

Suddenly all the skags looked up, almost at the same time, and darted up a hill and into a hole in a cliff. Korra lifted an eyebrow. "That's not good." There was a soft rumble, which quickly turned loud as the ground shook violently. Korra grabbed onto Asami's hand and wrapped her arm around the fast travel station behind them. 

"What the hell is happening?" Asami shouted as she grabbed onto Korra.

"Another one of those fucking tremors." Korra clenched her teeth. And almost as soon as the quake came, it left. Korra looked around as though she would be able to see tremors coming. Her arm lingered around the fast travel station for a bit before she let go. Asami released her hand and took a look around herself.

"He must be getting close." Asami sighed. "The energy he released must've altered our fast travel course. I think I know where we are though."

"This place does look familiar, aside from all the slag." Korra said, placing a hand on her hip.

"This looks like what's left of the Arid Badlands. We're actually not too far from New Haven. And Thousand Cuts, too actually." Asami explained. As she walked forward and around the pools of purple sludge. "See that building up there on that platform? That's Jack's Info Stockade. We can use that to find out where he's gonna try to unlock the vault."

"Yeah, we're not too far from the headlands where I saw all the Eridian stuff." Korra followed. "All this was just pipeline back then, though."

They continued walking, passing a graveyard and an abandoned town littered with loader parts. Some of the weapons, health and ammo vending machines still looked operational but were probably long past looted. 

"The platform ends back there." Asami pointed as she jogged through the town. Another glowing purple pool of runoff sludge covered the ground leaving the town. More loader parts stuck out of the ooze. 

"Were the Vault Hunters here or something?" Korra rose an eyebrow as she followed Asami through the wreckage.

"Looks that way." Asami mumbled as she reached the other side to an open area with a desert path leading towards a shut gate. The winding roadlike platform above ended against rock wall at an industrial sized lift. They walked past another rather large pile of broken loaders and stepped onto the lift. Asami tapped the button and the lift shakily began ascending, but stopped about a quarter of the way from the top. 

"Figures." Asami sighed. She turned to Korra who already had stooped down with hands cupped in front of her. Asami placed her hands on both Korra's shoulders and stepped into her hands. Korra lifted her up until she could grab the edge of the lifts platform and pull herself up. She crawled over the edge laying down and peeking back over it, extending a hand to Korra. 

She bent her knees and leapt for Asami's hand. The push off knocked the lift downwards a few notches but Korra still managed to grab on. Asami pulled until Korra could grab the edge and pull herself over. They both exchanged a nod as they headed down the path, covered with loader parts.

"What if the Vault Hunters destroyed everything?" Korra said as she stepped over a broken surveyor bot.

"Let's just hope they didn't." Asami sighed. 

As they bent the corner, a gigantic constructor and an equally massive red and orange Badass Loader standing watch at the entrance to the stockade came into sight.

"Might as well take care of these now." said Korra, smirking. She pulled her Future Industries SMG from her digistruct holster and burned a vertical line of acid through the center of the constructor. She holstered her gun and ran up to the robot with her staff out, shifting it into a claw and digging it into one side of the constructor. She then pushed against the other with her boot. 

"Korra, the acid hasn't dried out yet." Asami warned. 

"Don’t worry, my boots are lined with spitter skag hide." Korra smiled over her shoulder as she pulled the constructor open. She walked inside, staff still in hand, returned back to it’s normal appearance. She took a look around at all the burned and melted circuitry. 

"Korra, what are you doing?" Asami folded her arms. 

"Hang on." Korra replied. She placed both hands on the staff and bladed both ends. She twisted the staff, slicing through metal and wires until her hands were horizontal. A purple light flashed and the constructor flew apart, each half clanking to the ground on both sides of the platform. Korra stood at the center with a grin. "Pretty cool, right?" Korra smirked as her staff disappeared with another flash of purple.

"Yes it was, sweetie." Asami rolled her eyes. 

"What the hell is happening out here?" 

Korra wasted no time coating herself in purple and taking off. She grabbed Hiroshi by the collar of his much better fitting Hyperion armor and slamming him against the leg of the Badass Loader.

"What the- what's-" he grunted as he writhed beneath Korra's grip. He eyes looked straight through Korra and right at Asami. "You! You were supposed to be dead! How are you here? How are you doing this to me?"

Asami rose an eyebrow. "You can't see her?"

Korra rose one of her own and looked back at Asami. "You can?"

"You're glowing purple!" Asami pointed.

"Must be a Siren thing." Korra shrugged. She turned back to Hiroshi who had already pressed some button on his armor that activated the loader. It swiveled around and aimed a turret in her face. Korra dropped Hiroshi and darted back, pulling Asami out of the way just before it began to fire.

"I should've killed you myself back in Sanctuary." Hiroshi hissed. "All Jack needed was Asami, you were just an extra test subject. But look at what he's done with you; he’s made you even more of a pain to deal with."

"I'm going to kick your ass, old man." Korra growled, pulling her SMG from her digistruct.

"Ah, you gave your pet some new toys I see. Always the kind heart, Asami, just like your mother."

"Don't you dare talk about her." Asami growled, eyes glowing dark purple.

"All your threats mean nothing to me. Handsome Jack was already made it to the Vault. And once he releases The Warrior all you bandit scum will be purged--"

Korra ran at Hiroshi, catching him in the face with a hard right hook, sending him flying off the rear of the platform. "Don't you call me a fucking bandit!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to do the bandit thing at least one more time.


	28. Maybe Jack-Senpai Will Notice Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long, had some stuff to straighten out with this chapter the next one shouldn't take nearly as long

A Hiroshi landed with a loud clunk and a dull splash. His armor broke into scattered loader parts and sunk into a slag pit below. Korra stood over the edge of the platform, making sure to drop her purple coating so that if he were looking up there, he'd be sure to know Korra had finally knocked him down on his round ass.

"Yeah, you can definitely Phasewalk." Asami nodded with an amused grin. Korra's focus never left Hiroshi's sinking suit."So since I'm sure you're probably going to want to finish that, I'll go try to locate Jack." Asami pointed a thumb over her shoulder as she backed into the Info Stockade.

"Cool." Korra nodded. She balled her fists. "Just to be sure, you're fine with me killing your dad, right?"

"He almost had us both killed. He's pretty much dead to me already." Asami turned away and started to walk inside. "You just be careful, please?"

Korra nodded again. This time she added a smirk. "Invincible, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Asami replied as she disappeared up the stairs to the next floor. 

Korra took in a deep breath. She slowly closed her eyes before letting it out of her nose. Her mind was racing, her thoughts were scrambled, adrenaline was pumping. She felt much more energized that she's ever felt. She bounced, tilting her head to both sides and shaking out her hands. She locked her eyes on Hiroshi, forcing herself to focus only on him. She needed to kill him. She had to do it. It'd become absolutely necessary. He deserved death, nothing less; and no better a death than by the 'bandit' who stole his daughter away. The 'bandit' who cares for her more than he does. 'Cause damn, he tried to have her tortured to death. Who does that to their own daughter? 

She had to kill him. To defend her girlfriend, her future. 

For Asami.

Her hands vibrated as her staff appeared inside her clenched fist. 

'Kill Hiroshi, for Asami. she listed mentally. Korra's mouth curled into a smirk. 'Now that's something I can get behind.' Korra took a step, her smirk spread into a smile as she leaped off the platform and into the slag pit. She landed with a small splash. It seemed like the slag was moving away from her, parting as she walked towards Hiroshi. Hiroshi dragged himself to dry land, his armor spewing out purple sludge. Korra approached him, placing a boot on the back of his armor and a pistol to the back of his head. 

"So I'll let you choose. I can either whack the shit out of you with this," Korra waved the humming, bulbed end of her staff in Hiroshi's face. "or, I could shoot you in the head with this flaming pistol. Silence is a valid answer, too, since I could open a third option." Korra shot her staff with her Firehawk pistol, igniting the inside with flames. Korra twirled her staff and flames waved around it. "I might actually prefer you to be silent."

"Always so grandiose, Korra?" Hiroshi coughed. He was covered in slag, his skin tinted a deep purple from it. Even if he gave a long speech he'd either die from slag poisoning or from any type of physical exertion. "Handsome Jack has a plan. A plan to make this dust ball, deathtrap of a planet safe again. Safe from... people... like you."

"I noticed how you held your tongue to buy yourself some time. Good job." Korra nodded. "But Jack isn't here to save anyone. Jack is going to open the Vault and use whatever's in it to kill everyone."

"You don't know what's in it?" Hiroshi's laugh turned into a hacking cough. "I suppose my daughter doesn't either, otherwise you’d have gotten that from her along with her pants.”

Korra could feel rage boiling inside her. Her brow furrowed, eyes narrowed. Her staff squeezed narrow in the center from clenching her fist around it so tightly. She kicked Hiroshi onto his back. Her eyes burned with anger and pierced into his like a high velocity round. How could he say something like that about his own daughter? That she's only sticking around for sex? Korra raised an eyebrow as the last statement kicked around in her head. Then, suddenly, she exploded into laughter. 

Hiroshi was puzzled. He tried to use the sudden outburst to get on his feet but Korra's boot didn't budge. 

"You, honestly believe that Asami... that she..., oh my goodness." Korra gasped between sentences. "If I were just a fling, you'd have never even known who I was. I doubt Asami would have even told me her name. Do you know how secretive Asami used to be? I had to figure out she was a damn Siren."

Korra bent over clutching at her ribs. "When you caught us together was as naked as I'd ever seen her. And frankly, sex hadn't really even crossed my mind... much. But how fucking dare you say that about her?!" The end of her staff collided with the side of Hiroshi's face. His pudgy hands quickly came to his aid, clutching the area of impact. Being soaked in slag didn't help any.

"Thanks for the laugh though. I think I needed that." Korra smirked. "I would tell you that I'm sorry about having to kill you but I'd be lying."

"Likewise," Hiroshi mumbled.

"Wha-? Aw fuck!" Korra sighed as the Badass Loader dropped down from the platform with an earth trembling thud. It's joints whirred and clicked as it quickly straightened after recoiling from the fall. Korra turned as the loaders metal claw clamped onto the back of Korra's tank top and lifted her off her feet.

Hiroshi staggered upright with a heaving chuckle. "Heh, so damn full of yourself. Gave me just enough time to call for reinforcements."

Korra's lip poked out as she hung limp from the mechs sharp claw. She returned her pistol to her digistruct. "Call your reinforcements. I'm still gonna turn you to mush."

"Bold statements coming from someone in your position." Hiroshi sneered. 

"I can get out of this at any time, but I suppose I'll let you talk. Maybe you'll have some information I can use." purple light showered over her as Korra withdrew her staff and folded her arms. 

"Sure, there isn't anything happening that you shouldn't already know about." Hiroshi said. "Oh right, except for the Warrior. I could tell you about that before my mechanical friend behind you tears you to shreds. The Warrior is an ancient Eridian Vault guardian, similar to the Destroyer of five years ago. It's said that whoever first opens its Vault will gain control of the Warrior. Handsome Jack will use it to destroy all bandit life on Pandora, and settle it for the people and make it safe again."

"Jack is gonna murder everyone, except the people with money and rule over you all like a dictator. But if that's your kind of thing, I won't knock you for it." Korra shrugged. "Also, you calling him 'handsome' creeps me out a bit."

"That is what he prefers to be called!" Hiroshi snapped with reddened cheeks. "He gave me a job to support my crumbling family and after bringing the two of you in, he gave me a well fitting battle suit. He can be referred to as ‘Handsome’ as much as he wants. Nakayama can suck it!"

"....Alright." Korra rose a confused eyebrow.

"Looks like your bandit brain can't wrap itself around the thought of earned respect can it?" Hiroshi sneered. He took a step back, waiting for the outburst. But it never came. Korra stood still. 

"You have a crush on Handsome Jack?" Korra asked, a cheeky grin slowly spreading across her face.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Hiroshi's eyes widened.

"I'm just gonna have a guess at this but, Jack was probably really accommodating to you when you got to Hyperion; you, damaged goods after your wife was murdered, were all vulnerable and here's this nice fella doing all he can to make you comfortable. Then you find out he has a daughter who's a Siren. 'Omg! So do I!' you realize. So you go to find Asami, and your world crumbles 'cause she left you a note saying 'I don't love you anymore daddy. I'm gonna go fuck a bandit girl'." Korra snickered through the last few words. "So now you hate us both because we ruined your last true shot at happiness in your old sad-ass life because now Jack is cold, murderous and distant. And all you want is to destroy things just like he does. 'Maybe Jack-Senpai will notice me,' right? So you turn your revenge on your daughter because if Jack finds out your daughter could do what he had basically killed his own to do, he'd never even look your way. Likely he'd kill you."

Hiroshi's face was as red as an enraged Goliath’s. "You shut up!"

"Soooo, even though she did run away, you brought her back. Let Jack have his way with her. Maybe he won't kill you right away. Oh and bring the 'bandit' she's having all this sex with, too." Korra giggled. "Then fast forward to now. The 'bandit' has hella awesome powers and will do everything within her power, see what I did there, to murder the crap out of both of you."

"How could you figure all that out?" Hiroshi's mouth was agape.

"Because you forget constantly that I'm a bounty hunter. Figuring things out is what I do. Also finding and killing people." Korra shrugged again. "Besides, you and Asami get suspiciously sensitive when you talk about things you want to hide. Wait 'til I tell her about this."

"You won't even get the chance!" Hiroshi grumbled, eyes full of fury.

"Oh, so now you care about your daughter's opinions." Korra rolled her eyes.

"Argh! Just rip her in half, loader!" Hiroshi growled as he balled his fists, face still red as a tomato.

"Affirmative" the loader replied robotically as it reached around with its other claw. Korra twisted away. Her staff appeared in her hand, both ends sharpened into long blades. She cut clean through the loader’s claw as it reached around again then swung at the claw holding the back of her tank top. She entered a Phasewalk, or whatever Asami called it, before she touched the ground leaving Hiroshi and the loader confused.

"Where the hell did she go!? Don't you have infrared sensors? Find her!" Hiroshi demanded. Korra snicked to herself. She had only moved beside the loader but it had already taken off in the opposite direction to search. She grinned as she darted towards the loader with a renewed speed. She held the staff out in front of her, dashing under and in between its legs, cutting them from under it. The loader crumbled over still moving its upper legs in compliance with its orders to search. Korra turned and stood atop of the loader, exploding from exiting her phasewalk and blowing up the loader beneath her. 

Hiroshi's eyes widened with fear and locked onto Korra, whose eyes were glowing white. Korra grinned happily as she stepped down from the heap of shrapnel to join the rest and headed straight for Hiroshi. She noticed a hunk of Eridium that must have fallen out after the explosion. She smirked as she picked it up, and continued her stride. "Oh, this is gonna be awesome."

Korra started to Phasewalk but this time felt different, her body felt cold and metallic and instead of purple she was covered in dark blue. She grinned at the purple hunk in her hand and took off. She flung herself at Hiroshi, driving a hard kick into his chest plate and sending him flying into a pile of debris. 

"Oh, hell yes!" Korra cheered as she slipped the chunk of eridium in her pocket. She sprinted off again, colliding back into Hiroshi. With both hands she pressed the staff to his throat. She could feel regular warmth returning to her body, the blue coating slowly peeling away from her arms. Korra could see the utter horror in his eyes, also that hers were now glowing purple.

Korra pushed the staff upwards, pulling Hiroshi's flailing body off his feet. Her brow lowered and her face twisted into a smile. She pulled the staff across his neck. He stared at the sharp blade coming steadily closer to his body. 

"It was nice bonding with you, Hiroshi, but I kinda have to kill you now." Korra said.

"No... No!" Hiroshi spat.

"If you get a burial site we'll try to bring flowers every now and then... Probably not but, y'know, the idea sounds nice. 'Kay! Buh bye." Korra beamed as she pulled her staff across Hiroshi's neck, cutting clean through. Korra released him as he crumbled to the ground, an accomplished smirk painted across her face.

"Fuck yes!" Korra cheered. 

"Korra!" Asami called as she dropped down from the platform above. "Sheesh, nice job on dear ol' dad there." Asami congratulated.

"Asami, your dad was in love with Handsome Jack!" Korra blurted. Asami's brow folded in confusion. "Sorry, he told me I wouldn't get the chance to tell you that." Korra smiled.

"I'm gonna need you to elaborate on that later." Asami folded her arms. "Anyway I found out where Jack is. Beneath the Eridium Blight. He's already released the Warrior and the Vault Hunters are fighting it now. Somehow he's got video streaming down there. If we hurry we could still help them and probably kick Jack's ass, too."

"I'm down for that." Korra added. "Hey maybe if I phasewalk us there we could get there faster?"

"No, Korra we're gonna try to fast travel again." Asami sighed as she started for the fast travel station.

"But that's how we ended up here!" Korra whined. "What if we end up in, like Opportunity and get welcomed by a shit ton of loaders?"

And, as if on cue, a bright twinkle shone from the moon base above, followed by five flaming comet like pods that hurled towards the surface. They all cratered into the ground and released three gigantic Constructor robots, eight surveyor repair drones and two Saturn class loaders. The constructors had already begun to digistruct more loaders as soon as they landed.

Korra pulled her Future Industries rifle from her digistruct. "Welp, Here are those reinforcements!" Korra sighed. "Hope the Vault Hunters can kill the Warrior."

Asami hadn't even turned around yet. She facepalmed with a loud groan. "Fuck me." 

Korra burst into a fit of laughter.


	29. Lavender Glass

"Well, I found some Eridium if you need it." Korra sighed as she reached in her pocket.

"You should be able to make use of it, too. You've got Eridian abilities." Asami's shook her head.

"I've also got guns, a magical staff and can run fast while invisible." Korra shrugged. "Take it, we don't have much time before the constructors are finished...constructing shit." Korra grumbled as she reached in her pocket for the Eridium chunk, handing it to Asami.

"Just hang on to it for now." Asami waved the proffered eridium away. "We may not need it."

Korra lowered her weapon, turning to Asami who now had one of her gloves on. "What do you mean?"

"They're just loaders, Korra. You literally cut two to pieces a few minutes ago." Asami shrugged nonchalantly. Korra turned to the constructors who had now started making surveyor bots that were charging shields for everything else.

"These loaders in particular seem tougher. And they've got Future Industries paint on them." Korra argued. "I'm getting final boss vibes from these things."

"Well if we need it, you have it." Asami replied. "So let's go break some robots."

"Okay..." Korra mumbled hesitantly. "If you can take out the shields I'll melt the armor down."

Asami nodded and held up her gloved hand. It crackled with electricity, and she closed her hand dramatically with a smirk. "You got it." Asami purred with a glint in her eye.

"You're such a showoff, you nerd." Korra shook her head as she took aim at the nearer swarm of surveyor bots. The small jets flew around in looping circles, only flying in straight lines to attack or to charge a shield. The things themselves weren't very resilient and usually dropped in a few well placed shots but they were pretty hard to hit.

Korra took aim and shot a burst of at each of the flying robots. Their shields shattered after the first few shots, and they burst into flames after another few. Eight were quickly down to four before Korra felt bullets pluck at her own shields. She turned around to see two red and orange loaders, both with chain guns raised and pointed directly at her. They both had obnoxiously large silver 'SGT' decals across their torso in standard Hyperion font. The SGT Loaders marched through the rain of broken parts and smoke that cascaded from a destroyed surveyor. Korra stepped back as she began to phasewalk to dodge the gunfire. Her body covered in transparent lavender as she darted towards the loaders, she holstered her rifle and replaced it with her staff. She quickly accelerated towards them, bullets flying at her from all directions, and a few ticking at her shield. She dug her heels into the dirt as the loaders bombarded the ground directly ahead of them. Korra sidestepped out of the way and took off to flank.

Red robotic eyes followed her every step. Her mind drifted back to the infrared sensors Hiroshi mentioned. She allowed herself a proud smirk as she sprinted behind a shack for a bit of cover. She pressed her back to the wall and took a deep breath. Using the powers wasn't nearly as taxing as she thought and running around like she did didn't tire her more than normal running. She dropped the transparent covering and took a moment to think and regenerate her shield.

"Why couldn't these have been the soldiers we studied for and not these fuckin’ robots" Korra grumbled. Fighting people wasn’t as hard. You could get in their heads and they could fall to fatigue every now and then but these damn things were full of fucking surprises.

She peeked over towards Asami who was surrounded by her lightning storm. She faced off against two light blue loaders, which both had tesla coils at the ends of their arms instead of weapons. They shot bolts of electricity directly at her. Asami weaved away from one and another, her long wavy hair flowing behind her. She braced as the third impacted with her gloved hand. She quickly closed her hand dispersing the energy, absorbing some of it to add to her own lightning.

Korra grinned "Nerd!" she yelled, with hands at both sides of her mouth. Without looking at her, Asami moved her fisted hand towards Korra, turning it palm up and raising an electrified middle finger. Korra chuckled to herself as she stood back, searching for a slag grenade on her belt.

A pair of surveyors broke away from harassing Asami and whizzed over towards Korra. Their noses glittering with electricity as they charged their cannons and readied to fire. Korra pulled out her pistol, aimed, and opened up. Bullets collided into their shields. A few well placed shots were required since most shields were designed to ward off fire.

Both aircrafts banked and then dove straight towards her. Korra fired again with just enough bullets to shatter a surveyor's shield before running out of ammo. She cursed herself for not buying more in Overlook as she pushed her pistol into her pocket. The surveyors began their ascent as they each fired a swirling ball of energy. Korra jumped back to avoid the first, accidently jumping into a locker attached to the building she hid behind. She pivoted around the locker quick enough to avoid a direct hit from the second. The splash from the second blast washed over her shield, taking more than half its capacity.

Korra grit her teeth as she tossed her slag singularity after the surveyors. Before they both could go off in their separate directions, the grenade pulled them back together and covered them in slag. Korra started to reach for her digistruct holster, knowing she had to choose her weapon carefully without any extra ammo. Her shotgun materialized in her hand in bright blue pixelated light. She took careful aim as blue electrified shells collided with the hulls of both significantly slagged robots. One exploded almost immediately: the other required a few more shots before meeting the same fate.

Korra took a second to breathe, hoping the surveyors would drop some ammo. Before she could turn to search, the SGT-Loaders from before had her surrounded. The barrels had already been spinning and were likely seconds from tearing her to bits. She cloaked herself in purple light and quickly scurried on top of the locker. Shells from extremely large bullets ricocheted from where she was standing seconds before and were heading towards her. The second loader had already begun tearing through the locker she found herself perched on.

Korra felt stray bullets bounce into her shield, one nicking her arm as the shield generator clamped to her belt started to beep it's warning. She quickly leapt onto a half-attached awning, hoping for just a second of sturdiness. Korra quickly scampered onto the roof of the building, just before the rusted awning gave way. Rounds tore into the sides of the roof, sending bits of brick and scrap metal flying. Korra threw an arm over her face to protect herself from the shrapnel as she rolled to onto her knees, lavender giving way to bronze as she spotted a chest nearby.

"Jack-fucking-pot" Korra breathed. She hustled over, pressing the switch for the latch to release and pulling open the lid with a whir and a hiss.

"Fucking pistols!" Korra grumbled as she kicked at the stationary storage chest filled with the most bland assortment of sidearms she’d ever seen. Korra spun on her heel, looking for the loaders that ran her to the roof. She spotted their red eyes and could hear their robotic drawl as they both marched backward. She sighed as she drew her staff, this time formed into an intricate bow made of lavender glass with four curved arms, each holding a part of the bowstring that twisted into one thick braid at the center. They arched outward and curved back in, making a rounded 'X'. Korra's hand fit into the grips perfectly. An arrow that matched her bow materialized in her hand and she quickly nocked it to the string. Her eyes narrowed with focus as she took aim at the loader more likely to shoot at her first. Using the opened chest for a bit of cover, she pointed a finger directly at it's eye, ready to send the arrow flying straight through.

She pulled the string, which was a bit more stiff than she had imagined but still effective. She rested the fletching against her cheek and stood as still as her nerves would allow. She had noticed a while ago that her shield should have recharged by now and hadn't. Korra pushed the thought to the back of her mind and took in a deep breath until her lungs couldn't draw in any more.

 _Just shoot this one, shoot the other, go help Asami and, boom, finished. No pressure, no problem, no turning in into an Eridian creature_ thingy. Korra thought. She released the bowstring with a sharp twang and the arrow lodged itself into the shelf of the opened chest, just above the pistols.

"Fuck!" Korra shouted as she scrambled to draw another arrow. She nocked it back again, this time struggling to keep the point from swinging away from the bowstring. Korra mumbled more curses under her breath as the loaders chain gun began to creep into view. Korra pulled the arrow back, took aim and fired. The arrow flopped upward and right back down this time, nearly cutting into her boots.

"Argh! Dammit!" Korra hissed as dropped the bow and arrow and reached for her golden SMG. She opened fire right into the loaders eye. A swath of green splashed all over the loader, running down its front and dripping onto the ground beneath it. It quickly burned into the ground but did not do the same for the loader. Korra stopped shooting. The acid dripped off of the loader, only taking the paint along with it. "What the fuck are these things made of?" Korra took a step back as she checked her ammo count. 36 out of 82 bullets left in her gun and every last one needed to count. She quickly cycled through her weapons, noticing that nearly all her guns were at about half ammo capacity except for her pistol; it had already been emptied.

She switched her gun out for her staff again, this time with blades and no arrows. She activated her Phasewalk and quickly leapt off the front of the building. She could hear the loader behind her open fire and felt a bullet collide with the side of her thigh. She didn't have the luxury to dwell on it as she sped around the building, pain shooting up her leg as she turned the corner. She held the pointed end of the blade in front of her, ready to slice into whatever part of the Hyperion robot she could get her hands on.

She wound the staff back as though she were holding a bat and swung as hard as she could at the loaders leg. The blade cut into the plating but went no further. Korra, still moving a bit too fast, felt the jerk from the jammed staff. She manoeuvred her body away from the other bladed end of her staff and tripped over her own feet, sending her crashing into the pile of rubble the surveyors left behind. The staff faded leaving only the gash left in SGT-loaders leg, just under the joints.

“Why can’t these things just die? Would it kill them to just die for once?” Korra rolled onto her hands, trying to bring her knees underneath her for balance. Her injured thigh protested sending searing pain throughout her leg. She grimaced at the pain and wobbled to her feet. The loader on the other side of the building jumped to the side of the other, guns raised. The other backed away, a hologram projector in its eye flashed a signal with a screwdriver and wrench crossed like an X just over its head.

"Surrender, or be decimated." the other loader garbled.

Korra shook her head, her narrowed blue eyes casting a menacing glare.  
She summoned her staff and placed an end on the ground to take some of the weight off her injured leg. She was pretty sure her shield generator was broken and her leg was likely bleeding like hell, all the running she’d just done considered. Her mind wandered to the Eridium in her pocket, but her blades couldn’t cut through whatever these things were made of and they could see her when she was phasewalking.

“Damn." She cursed as she considered her options, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. She needed to find a way to get the get the chunk of purple rock to Asami with almost no ammo and not die along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be awesome :)


	30. Stabbed in the Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so, about this being over, it isn't. lol two more to go after this

"Fucking platinum? Really, dad?" Asami grumbled under her breath. She pulled her hand away from the conductor rod that was in the middle of the shielded sphere that she forced the ION loaders out of. The second robot started to replace the fading shield as the first strutted inside. She didn't have a gun, which defeated the point of the bullet shield. Every few moments she'd glance at the for then idle trio of constructors. All were painted in Future Industries burgundy and bronze.

As much as she didn't want to have to admit to Korra after all this, Korra was right. She hadn’t expected an army of platinum plated loaders, much less for Jack to have funded those. But then, imagining Hiroshi Sato purchasing refined platinum from some intra-planetary black market wasn't exactly ridiculous.

Asami huffed, shooting a glance towards Korra who was surrounded by loaders, who had somehow found a chest on a roof. Nothing of interest seemed to have been in it since she drove a pretty hard kick into it. _Korra wouldn't usually go out of her way for some loot. She must be running low on ammo,_ Asami mused.

She couldn't exactly say her hands were full at the moment, but she wasn't going to test the constructors either since they usually come with a pair of cannons. Korra can handle it. She shook her concern off and focused on the two ION loaders in front of her.

She rushed into the shield the second loader maintained. It spun rapidly, creating enough energy to generate what looked like a lot of extra power as the loader looked like it was overloading with electricity. These two wouldn't be much of a problem. They give off so much power it'd be no problem to overload them. She closed her copper glove around the robots narrowed midsection and sent a charge. The robot started to spin faster, gaining more momentum. Electricity danced along the outside of the shield walls. Dark clouds of smoke began to drift up from under Asami's vice grip. The loader tipped over and crashed to the ground flopping around in wild circles until it's spin was forced to stop.

The second loader began to rotate up its own shield. Asami's eyes began to flash purple and she felt her body vibrate. The loader’s rotation began to slow, along with the shorted out loaders trail of smoke and the surveyors flight as it headed off in Korra's direction.

Korra pulled herself onto her feet, leaning on her staff for balance. One of the SGT-Loaders had a gash cut through one of it's legs as it began its retreat towards the surveyor. Asami examined Korra. She had a blood stained rip on her pants to match. _Korra might be in trouble. They can see her Phasewalk and she can't cut the platinum plating. And judging by the melted paint, her gun isn't doing that well either. I knew I should've added hydrochloric acid to the corrosive._ Asami dashed forward reaching out for the same area she disabled the other loader from. She sent a stronger charge through this one, quickly shorting it out. Asami smirked at her lightning fast speed. Her eyes returned to normal and everything returned to its natural speed.

Asami turned to the surveyor, which was already beaming a digistruct laser at the SGT-Loaders damaged limb. She took a step but felt something meet between her foot and the arid ground. She looked down quickly to find a case of pistol ammo, behind that were a few shotgun shells. The science behind how robots without guns dropped ammunition upon destruction was beyond her, but she couldn't have been more grateful. She picked up all she could before igniting her eyes focusing all her energy on making her legs move as fast as they could. Time began to slow as Asami sprinted across the open plain. The constructors already began replacing their downed allies, digistructed outlines of more loaders displayed from the holograms that shot out of them. Asami didn't have the time for it, she could worry about those later. Korra's 'later' was looking a bit questionable.

She darted around the chain gun hoisting Hyperion robot undetected, moving too fast for it to notice her. Korra was just ahead with a cocky grin on her face. A grin! Did she not understand that she could die? Asami bent the corner and grabbed Korra by the waist. She peered up at the guns with bullets nearly leaving the barrels. Asami sent silent thanks to whatever gave her siren powers as she yanked Korra out of the way. She pulled her arm over and around her shoulders and carried her back across the open plain towards the broken elevator they use to access the overpass earlier. Asami set Korra down against a large cement pillar, who was still grinning like a fool. The glow in Asami's eyes subsided as everything returned to normal speed.

"Korra, you jackass! You were gonna try to use the sentinel on a pair of robots? You could've died!" Asami yelled as she drove her bare fist into Korra's luminous shoulder. Her glow vanished as if Asami's punch switched it off.

"Ow! Goddamn it! I'm hurt!" Korra hissed as she grabbed for her injured shoulder. "And yeah I was! It was either do that and maybe die or not do it and definitely die. I'm nearly out of ammo, I got shot in the thigh, they can see me phasewalk and they’re made out of some bullshit metal! I can't cut through 'em. Oh! My shield generator is broken, too."

"But you're not out of ammo, you could've at least tried to phasewalk away or take cover or something. And you sliced through some of that platinum" Asami dropped the boxes of ammo she gathered earlier in Korra's lap.

"I'm more of an instant gratification kind of person." Korra smirked lazily as she reached for the ammo and absentmindedly pulled her pistol from her pocket and started to reload.

"And what exactly do you plan to do with that?" Asami eyed her pistol then quickly checked on the robot army that pursued them. "They're shielded platinum robots."

"Hell if I know. You gave me the ammo." Korra shrugged. Her eyes were narrowed as she watched Asami, her brow folded in thought as she strategized. She mouthed as she counted exactly how many loaders they were dealing with. Two SGT, two surveyors, three constructors and two each of whatever they're creating over there.

 _That's thirteen with the possibility of six more at any time._ Asami reached in her cargo pocket for a syringe filled with thick red liquid. Korra’s eyes instantly followed as Asami popped the plastic cover off the needle. “Hey, keep still for a se--”

“What the hell are you gonna do with that?” Korra’s eyes shot open.

“Are you really afraid of needles?” Asami sighed.

“I’m not afraid of anything, Asami.” Korra quickly protested, she push herself upright. “I just don't like the idea of being impaled and then having someone plunge unknown substances into my bloodstream.”

“It’s medicine, Korra. I got it from Concordia before we left. I figured we’d need it at some point. It’ll make moving around on your wound much more tolerable.”

“I can tolerate it.”

“You can’t stand up Korra.”

“I don’t want to stand up, I like beautiful women sitting over me, now subtract that syringe and were golden.”

“Korra, we need to hurry or we’re gonna die by my father’s robots. It would suck to have just killed him and then die by the stuff he made.”

“As long as we’re together, my love.”

“You’re gonna make me force this on you, aren’t you?”

“You can force me to do anything except poking me with that needle.”

“Korra…”

“No, Asami. We’ve done a lot of crazy shit but i’m drawing the line right here, I refuse to…. H-hey, what are you doing? Why are your eyes glowing Asami?” Korra pressed her hand to the ground and began to scoot away, dragging her injured leg. “Asami, stop.”

“You won’t feel a thing, Korra, I promise.” Asami smirked. Korra rolled over on her stomach and started to phase… crawl away. And she was actually moving pretty fast. Asami chuckled and strolled after her. Korra’s desperate crawl grew slower but not as slow as everything else usually is when Asami does this... time altering speed thing. _I need to give this a name_ she thought as she walked after Korra. It didn’t take long to catch her. Asami quickly, and gently stuck the needle into the back of Korra’s near transparent shoulder and pressed the plunger until all the fluid left the cylinder and then pulled it out before she could move and possibly break it. The glow in her eyes gave way to green. Asami tossed the syringe away and like Korra crawl back a bit further. Asami watched as Korra continued to scurry away.

Korra looked over her shoulder, noticing that Asami was much closer that she was a few moments sooner, then noticed the sting in her back as the pain from sand covered wound was nearly gone. “...Gah!, you did it already didn’t you?” Korra wailed. "You literally just stabbed me in my back! How could you!?"

“Yes, I did. I'll apologize for that later. Now can we fight these robots please?” Asami replied dryly. She turned her attention back to the now fully formed loaders as they dropped from the constructor and marched straight at them.

“Oh dear,” Asami sighed as she ran towards Korra, quickly pulling her onto her feet.

“What are those?” Korra asked as she scrambled to follow Asami.

“EXP-Loaders. They chase you down and blow up.” Asami answered heading back for the shack with the weapons chest on the roof. Korra followed close behind, and so did the EXP-Loaders.

“Well, I’ve got a crazy idea, come with me.” Korra grinned. She veered off heading towards the crowd of machines waving Asami along. Korra pulled out her Future Industries SMG and her staff, the front end shaped like a drill. A corrosion splattering bullet collided with the drill end of the staff, filling the inside with a sickly green. She swapped her gun for her shotgun. Korra led them at at angle until the EXP-Loaders ended up behind them and then made a beeline for the front most constructor.

Korra held up the staff like a spear and let it hover in her hand. “i need you to spin, please!” Korra shouted at the staff, acid sloshing around inside it. The staff slowly rotated. “Faster! Like hella fast!” Korra commanded. Its speed increased a bit but not very much.

Asami ignored Korra’s shouting and scanned her surroundings. The SGT-Loaders were off to the side, one protecting the other while it underwent repairs, the other two constructors cannons were both slowly heating up, preparing to fire. _The drill attached to Korra’s staff should work well with the corrosion and whatever its made of that can cut through platinum._ Asami thought. _If it penetrates deep enough… I may be able to get an EXP-Loader inside the hole and it should finish it off._ Asami cursed herself for acknowledging the Moxxi-esque innuendo.

Korra had taken the staff between her palms and was rubbing them in opposite directions to speed up the spinning process. She let it hover over her right hand as the drill spun in a purple-green blur. She raised her shotgun and fired two rounds into the constructors shield. The shield shattered in a burst of blue and was followed directly by a bolt of purple light, a splash of green and flying sparks as the drill made its way into the hull of the constructor and came to a grinding halt a few moments later. “Keep fucking spinning!” Korra shouted. The staff responded, spinning slowly and pushing through at a snails pace.

Korra grumbled angrily and looked back at Asami who had started for the constructor herself, covered in a veil of lightning. She grabbed onto the staff sending electricity through the constructor. It mumbled robotic gibberish before slowly shutting down. The small legs holding it upright gave way, and it crashed into the dirt with a thud. Asami and Korra shared a smirk. "One down."


	31. Slack Jawed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein lies the badass moment Asami was way past due for

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the one after this is the last one i promise

Korra spun the staff between her palms and launched it at the next constructor, this time she tried to get the staff to spin without cursing at it. She darted away from plasma rounds and bullet spray with her shotgun shouldered, as she sprinted towards the machine gun fitted SGT-Loaders. Two quick bursts to the surveyor punched through its shield and sent bits of shrapnel falling from the sky.

 The damaged loader lifted its weapon and mumbled something in its robotic drawl. Korra quickly shot flaming bullets into the gash in its armor. The heated metal began to glow a deep red that gradually brightened into a blinding orange. She emptied the clip and scrambled towards the loader, driving a hard kick into the superheated cut.

 Asami watched as Korra's staff drilled slowly into the constructor. It was still surprisingly functional, despite the drill driving into what looked like the CPU. It whined and complained like the other injured robots as the staff dug deeper.

 The thud of marching EXP-Loaders thundered behind her like a stampede. Asami still watched the drill. Just a bit further she frowned as she stared the drill down. Maybe being a Siren meant she may have some control over the staff, but she didn't really have the time to test the theory. The staff has dug in deep enough where if it hasn’t destroyed it, it’s certainly gonna need repairs, Asami thought. She glanced back, waiting for the walking bombs to close in.

 Korra cursed out loud. Kicking wasn't going to work apparently, and the soles of her boots we're starting to melt. Korra saw the bots arm joints moving just inside her periphery. Her eyes darted up as the robot began to swing its chain gun down at Korra. She ducked out of the way and switched to her corrosive SMG, dropping her pistol back in her pocket. She slathered the same spot on the loaders leg with the green acid until her ammo count went black.

 The SMG vanished in blue light as she dug back into her pocket for her pistol. The release clicked and ejected the magazine onto the dry ground. She quickly replaced it with another just before the loaders body swiveled to take another swing. Korra quickly ducked under the loaders legs and aimed at the dripping acid. She paused for a second before pulling the trigger, taking another few steps back before igniting the green ooze.

 Asami eyed the last constructor warily, knowing that homing lasers and missiles could launch out of it at any moment. If she didn't need the EXP-Loaders to come blow up they'd have done it twice over by now. She looked back again, watching as the small battalion of machines skipped ahead. I just need two of you. Asami stepped to her left side so that the first two would be parallel. She inched over, and then took one huge step as the two approached.

 Just as she planned, both robots heads popped up, revealing circuitry in a mess of electricity. Obviously they were intended to be this unstable since they were made to blow up. A blue shock wave emitted from both machines that washed over her like a wave; sure signs of detonation.

 "Korra!" Asami yelled.

 Korra quickly switched her pistol into her left hand and balled her right into a loose fist, lifted in position to toss the staff that quickly materialized in her hand. She quickly launched the drilled spear into the SGT-Loader behind its companion spouting acid from its leg. The drill obviously pissed the loader off because it began to trudge forward as it spun into its chest. Korra backpedaled, switching her gun back into her dominant hand. She glanced over her shoulder noticing that one of the EXP-loaders began to deviate from its group and headed right for her. Korra walked towards it with a grin.

 Asami’s narrowed eyes glowed purple and the ambitious skip of the EXP-Loaders  slowed to a high kneed march. She pulled the closest EXP-Loader over her shoulder and tossed it into the hole Korra's staff drilled. She returned to the second and kicked it towards the crowd that followed. She noticed one missing and headed towards Korra. She could see the spout of acid coming from the damaged loaders leg. Asami smirked as she ran clear of what what certainly about to be ground zero and released her personal hold on time.

 Korra shot a few flaming rounds at the approaching loader and allowed herself a mental cheer once it caught on fire. She pocketed her pistol again and entered her phasewalk. She sprinted towards the flaming robot as fast as she could, grabbing onto one of it's arms. She stopped and jerked it into a spin, whipping it around twice before launching it at the impaled SGT-Loader and quickly recalling her staff before impact. She retrieved her pistol and set flame to the spilling acid around the other SGT-loaders leg before quickly darting back underneath the underpass where Asami stood with an expectant grin.

 "This is gonna be loud." Asami chuckled.

 "I could make a joke Moxxi'd be proud of but I won't." Korra winked.

 "By the way how'd you know strong enough acid can explode when you light it on fire?" Asami asked.

 "It can?" Korra beamed and quickly threw her hand over her eyes as everything exploded at the same time with a concussive boom. Dust, smoke, scraps of metal, gun parts, circuit boards and other robotic assortments flew all over. A small mushroom cloud rose over the blast zone. Asami slowly lifted an eyebrow at it, vexed again on how that made sense. Korra pulled her from her thoughts as she took her hand.

 "Isn't it beautiful, Asami?" Korra cooed as she waved a hand at the destruction.

 The engineer pushed her logical protests to the back of her mind and simply shook her head, squeezing Korra's dusty hand. "It's kinda awesome, actually."

 "I agree." Korra nodded. "Hey, let's go see if we can catch the rest of that stream Jack had set up."

 "There's still a constructor in there, Korra." Asami pointed.

 "What?" Korra huffed. Her shoulders slumped as she looked into the settling dust.

 "Right there," Asami pointed with a bit more emphasis. “It’s kind of blending with the dirt and smoke but-- oh, it’s firing those lasers now.” Asami said flippantly as orange beams of light arched from the billows of smoke and dust and snaked through the air directly at them followed by a slew of missiles.

 “Alright, one more.” Korra cheered sarcastically.

 They both took off, running for their own form of cover; Korra behind a scorched truck and Asami sidled in behind a rock wall near the broken elevator. "Hey!" Asami called.

 "Yeah?" Korra shouted back.

 "You still got that Eridium?"

 "Uh huh. You want it?" Korra ducked her head down as the barrage of lasers and missiles crashed into the incredibly resilient car and the ground around Korra. "So do these robots have Hiroshi's soul infused in them? Why are they only attacking me?"

 "Your Phasewalk gives off a lot of heat." Asami replied. "And no I don't want the Eridium."

 "Why not? Level fifteen would really help right now." Korra covered her head. "Also I don't have a shield and don't want to turn into the whatever anymore."

 "I can get to level fifteen without the Eridium." Asami answered.

 "You hired me to find this shit for you and now you don't want it?" Korra screamed, covering up as another salvo collided into the ground. Dust kicked up in a brown cloud around her. Sharp rocks blasted past, cutting into her bare arms. "Fuck!" Korra hissed.

 "Try to move! You're behind a burned truck frame." Asami called.

 "I'd love to, if only something could draw this things fire!" Korra shouted sarcastically.

 Asami shook her head as she huffed out a deep breath. She glanced around the rocks as the huge constructor readied to fire again. She leaped out, racing towards the constructor in a dead sprint. Her glove burst into a storm of purple, electricity coiled around her arm and slowly spread, shrouding the rest of her body. The next barrage of artillery fire came spiraling towards Asami. Her hair flowed behind her like a ghastly trail as she dodged it; not a hair falling out of place.

 Korra watched in awe from the seemingly unscathed frame of this truck she peeked around. Things being unreasonably strong and sturdy once they're destroyed  was another thing to add to the “What the fuck, why and how does this exist?” list.

 Asami dashed forward as the last few lasers and missiles slammed into the ground with a boom. The siren’s eyes glowed and time began to slow as she made her way towards the loader, balling her fists in anticipation. As her copper fist closed, sparks pricked at her skin like needles and then more like knives. Asami slowed to a stop as the coating of electricity slowly subsided and time returned to normal, frowning.

 The Eridium chip in her glove was shorting out.

 Of course this wasn't the glove built to house a power source like that for very long. Maybe the lightning shroud wasn't that practical an idea. Asami sighed as she pulled the smoking glove from her hand and tossed it to the side. Her attention was commanded back to the task at hand once the constructor began to fire again. Asami took off again, though not as fast this time. The lasers beamed into the ground, vaporizing the debris from the earlier chain explosion. She could feel the heat of the lasers on the back of her neck but she daren’t look back. All she could concentrate on was.... whatever the fuck just crashed into her and was carrying her away.

 Asami looked up, finding herself cradled against Korra's bright purple chest. Korra looked down at her quickly. "You okay?" she asked breathlessly.

 "Um, sure?" Asami replied, still very much disoriented.

 "Sorry about hitting you so hard. I had to get you away. You almost got vaporized." Korra smirked. "Things went from awesome to shit so fast I almost didn't get to you in time."

 "Thanks for that." Asami nodded shooting her a small smile. Korra returned it with one of her own.

 "So do you have any power left in-- Oof!" Korra grunted, clutching onto Asami as she tripped over some not-so-buried loader bits. Korra flew a considerable distance before tucking her head under her arms, hitting the ground in a roll. She released Asami on impact and continued to roll, smashing her back into a wall of the shack with the chest full of pistols. "Gah, why is it always my back!" Korra howled.

 Asami rebounded to her feet, running after Korra. "Hey, you alright?"

 "If I say yes will you give me the dumb brace again?"

 "Yes."

 "No, I'm not okay." Korra chuckled. "Jokes aside, I'm not. Don't know how much more of this I can take."

 "I know, you should try not to use any of your abilities anymore." Asami placed a hand on Korra's side.

 "Can you use yours?" Korra struggled to sit up.

 "No, not the way I want to." Asami said, keeping her hand on Korra in case she needed any help getting upright. She smiled as Korra leaned against the wall. Her hand traveled to Korra's shoulder, sending vibrations throughout Korra's upper body. Korra face twisted into a smile, prompting Asami to quickly withdraw her hand.

 "You've still got that. That's good." Korra grunted. Korra slowly reached in her pocket, pulling out the chunk of Eridium and laying it on the ground. "Use that and wrap this up please. I kinda want this to be over now."

 Asami sighed, glancing down at the glowing ingot then back at Korra. "I figured I'd have to use this eventually."

 "I'm sure you'll tell me why you're so hesitant later?" Korra asked placing a hand on the eridium and pushing it towards Asami.

 "I may be able to tell you now, considering the constructor is graciously affording us time for our little moment." Asami breathed a laugh as she placed her hand on top of the eridium, her fingers brushing against Korra's.

 "Yeah, well make it regret it." Korra smirked. "I'll be here if you need me."

 Asami nodded. She stood and walked toward the constructor, her tattoos glowing an angry violet, her eyes beaming to match. The block of Eridium slowly sunk into Asami's now balled fist. Dark bolts of electricity covered both her arms and spread to cover her entire body.

 The air grew thick with heat and static. Korra could feel the electricity Asami was emitting, even as she began to walk off. Thunder rumbled as dark clouds rolled into the desolate wasteland. Korra turned her attention back to Asami, who was now standing on top of the constructors artillery with her both arms raised high over her head. Korra shifted uneasily, remembering what one arm did to a giant bullymong the last time Asami did that.

 Asami dropped her arms with a shout. The cloud unleashed a crackling bolt of lightning that connected with the constructor in a boom of thunder, covering it in black bolts and purple light. Korra threw an arm over her face shielding her eyes from the light. Asami appeared in front of the constructor, still covered in electricity.

 The wicked bolt of lightning subsided. Asami dug her heels in the sandy ground. The electricity that flared around her body gathered around her right arm. Her tattoos pulsed as the constructor came back into view, artillery cannon burnt to char and destroyed much like the rest of the constructor. Its red eye still gleamed brightly, with the repair hologram beaming over it.

 "Don't call for help now." Asami smirked. She leaped forward driving her electrified fist into the constructor’s eye with a another crack of thunder. She and the robot were covered in her storm of electricity. It grew more and more intense by the second until the red eye of the constructor faded, and its frantic babbling silenced. It’s legs collapsed, and the constructor fell onto the ground with a loud clank.

 The dark clouds still hovered in the sky, and thunder softly rumbling over the plain. Asami pulled her hand from the constructor, revealing a wide crater left in the middle. She dispelled the electricity covering her and walked back to Korra. Her tattoos faded back to their natural color as did her eyes as she found a slack jawed Korra leaning against the wall of the building. Asami laughed.

 "You still alive?" Asami smiled.

 "You didn't just want to do that earlier?" Korra squealed.

 "I'll explain why later." Asami chuckled.

 "You just destroyed that thing in like fifteen seconds." Korra lips now pursed in a pout. "I'm damn near dying and you just... did that."

 "I'll explain. Later. I promise." Asami extended a hand to Korra.

 "You're still an asshole." Korra grumbled as she grabbed Asami's hand. Korra stumbled to her feet.

 "Saved your ass, didn't I?" Asami smirked as she nudged Korra's arm.

 "Yes, you did." Korra sighed. "Now get me outta here, my everything hurts."

 "Yes, your highness." Asami grabbed Korra's arm and threw it over her shoulder.

 "Ow! What the fuck is in your jacket?" Korra snatched her arm back.

 "Oh, crap. I didn't think any of that stuff stuck to me, sorry." Asami turned and tugged on her jacket sleeve trying to pull out the bits of metal that clung to her. She shook her jacket a bit and used a hand to brush her shoulder "It should all be off now. Lets..." Asami trailed off.

 Korra was covered in purple light and hovering a few feet off the ground. A glaring ball of light covered her face and expanded. Three face like plates, like three masks formed around her head. The light quickly faded and dropped her back on her feet. Korra fell to her knees, not ready to support her weight.

 "Korra!" Asami scrambled to her side.

 "What the hell just happened?" Korra groaned, examining her hands.

 "Um. Korra. I think you're the Sentinel now."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I had this idea, right? I may or may no do a series for this. Like have a bunch of short stories that may or may not fit into canon of the story. Cause there are some things in BL2 that I really wanted Korra and Asami to do but just never got to do. So depending on how I feel ater tis is finally done, that may be a thing.


	32. Tiki Mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is freakin it you guys. The last damn chapter and actually the first fic I've actually completed. Ummmmmm yeah.

"Everything's dead now! There's no reason for me to even be like this!"

"It's funny how it's pretty much just masks. Your voice doesn't even sound different." Asami giggled. “Can you take them off or is that like, your face now?”

“I hope I can take them off. I can still feel my face under them, or rather, I don’t feel like they’re on my face. Damn! Maybe these are my face now! Are they sexy masks? I’m still hot, right?” Korra grabbed at the masks, trying to tug them off but they wouldn't budge. She frantically ran her hands over the masks, trying to get a feel of how they looked. They all felt the same; three frowning, particularly unattractive faces

“They’re about as attractive as a tiki mask?” Asami hesitated. She shifted her weight and awkwardly grabbed her upper arm. “If I told you it’s what's on the inside that counts would you feel better?”

“Asami, I have three tikis for a face now.” Korra grumbled. “Not to mention, I’m still fucking hurt, that damn metal the constructor kicked up onto your jacket while you were getting chased dug into my arm.”

“I’m sorry, let me see.” Asami cooed as she reached for Korra’s cut arm. “You’ve got a lot of scrapes and scratches on your arms.”

“Yeah, we blew up a lot of things together just now.” Korra mumbled sarcastically.

“Come on, Korra, tone down the salt.” Asami warned.

“Hard not to be salty when you’re suddenly a tiki faced Eridian creature-person hybrid.” Korra’s lip stuck out in a pout.

“Well we can get you patched up at least, then figure out what we have to do to fix what happened to you.” Asami placed a hand on the small of her back. “You think you can walk?”

“Yeah.” Korra grumbled. She summoned her staff, which was now fully opaque. It was white, like it was made of marble, with purple grooves etched into it similar to Eridian markings. The grooves pulsed as purple light seemed to flow through the staff. She placed the end on the ground and used it as a crutch to walk forward.

“Your staff is different.” Asami lifted an eyebrow as she followed Korra around the debris and back into the town.

“Yeah, later. Don’t care right now.” Korra waved it off as she hobbled on.

Asami folded her arms. “You don’t want to try to phasewalk and see what happens?”

“Later, I want to get healed up now. Maybe it’ll help to remove these masks.” Korra sighed, annoyance clear in her voice. “Were you paying attention to if the vending machines were working in town?”

“No, I wasn’t.” Asami muttered. She rubbed her upper arm. “You gonna be alright?”

“Dunno yet.” Korra answered softly.

"Well you were ready to turn into this before. Why the change of heart now?" Asami kept her tone even, trying not to upset Korra any further.

"I was ready to do it because my life was on the line. And likely yours, too. I was out of options. I had to do something." Korra growled. "But now the fight is over, and we made it through without me having to do that. And I get my arm caught on something sharp in your damn jacket and I turn into an Eridian war chief. I thought I'd be some giant hulking warrior or something. But instead I've got a new staff. Hoo-fucking-ray."

Asami rushed to catch up with her and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we'll figure this out. And even if we don't, we can find a way."

Korra turned and looked at Asami's dirt smeared face. Her eyes were sincere, she didn't look scared or disgusted. Just concerned. She sighed. "I don't know if my face shows emotion or not but I was shooting you a pretty nasty look."

"No, you don't really show emotion but I could tell." Asami replied with a soft smile. "We will figure something out. I promise. You'll be gorgeous again in no time."

"Alright." Korra nodded. Asami slipped her hand off her shoulder and started down the dirt path back towards the town. Korra followed, hobbling close behind.

"Maybe since nearly killing you did this, healing you can undo it?" Asami pondered aloud as she headed towards a pile of old tires scattered on the ground. "Here, one of Zed's vending machines is here and it looks like it still works."

“So we’re just gonna ignore the death field of electricity covering the entrance?” Korra eyed the ominous bolts of electricity crossing over the entryway to what looks like an abandoned medical shelter.

“You just watched me call a storm down on a constructor and you think this bit of static would be a problem?” Asami’s lips curled into a cocky grin as she placed her hand where the electricity intersected. It crackled and surged around her arm then dispersed. She smirked at Korra as she sauntered into the shelter. “You’re either impressed, or you’re about ready to call me a show-off.”

“A bit of both, actually.” Korra replied. She walked in but stumbled back after knocking her masks on the top of the shelter door. “Shit,” she cursed as she regained her footing.

“You alright?” Asami chuckled.

“Just hurt my pride….” Korra shook her head as she tried entering again, this time she ducked under the door accordingly. She found a chair knocked over on the floor, sat it upright and checked to make sure it was safe to sit in.

“The health syringes are pretty expensive here for this place to be abandoned.” Asami examined the machine, laying on the floor likely from the force of Hyperion taking over the area. Asami deposited the cash and out popped another red fluid filled syringe. She turned to Korra who had already settled into her seat. “Gotta stick you again, my dear.”

“Well at least give me the decency of actually being aware of you doing it this time.” Korra shifted uneasily at the sight of the needle.

“That’s fair.” Asami nodded as she approached Korra’s chair. She kneeled down, getting eye level with Korra. She stared at the mask, the eye holes were stony and desolate, nothing like Korra’s wild blue eyes. Korra looked away. Asami placed a hand on Korra’s shoulder. “Hey, listen. We’re gonna get you through this.”

“What if we don’t, Asami? And I’m stuck like this.” Korra aimed her glance at the ground, away from Asami.

“Well at least you don’t have hair for Tannis to pull out.” Asami breathed a laugh. Korra didn’t seem to find it too funny. Asami sighed she carefully moved her hand from Korra's shoulder and underneath her chin. It didn’t feel like mask, it still felt like Korra’s impressively soft skin. Asami tilted her head up, forcing her to look her in the face. “You’re still you under that mask, Korra. So I’m gonna stick by you until we can figure something out.” Asami let her hand trail back down to Korra’s shoulder then over her nearly shredded arm band. “Seems I also have to make you another one of these.”

Korra looked down at her arm band then back to Asami. “No, I’ll keep it.”

“I doubt it even works anymore Korra.” Asami trailed her fingers over the torn fabric and the prickling of the ribbon wire inside.

“No, it’s important, I want to keep it.” Korra sighed. “It reminds me of you.”

“I can remind you of me. I told you, I’m not going anywhere. “ Asami said.

“I might.” Korra replied quietly. “I think I might go back home. Back to my stupid village if we can’t figure this out. I refuse to be a test subject and there aren’t any other Vaults on Pandora that need a guardian and I'm not gonna walk around like this.”

“Then I’ll come with you.” Asami replied, using the thumb from her other hand to push the rubber top off the syringes needle.

“You don’t have to do that. I can’t ask you to stay out in the tundra with me when I'm stuck looking like this. And you have Future Industries to deal with. Speaking of which I should probably give you these guns back, too.”

“Wait…, You’re upset because you think I don’t like the way you look?” Asami breathed.

“Well, that’s most of it. I wouldn’t be upset we just got together it’s not like we’ve grown all that attached to each other yet. I understand not wanting to be around me: a masked freak.” Korra rambled. Asami took the opportunity to poke Korra in the thigh with the syringe and inject the thick red fluid into her bloodstream. “You’re freakin' hot and deserve someone equally as hot. And I’m not hot at all and may never be again.”

“I don’t care about that, Korra.” Asami smiled. She quickly pulled the syringe out and rolled it under Korra’s chair. _Hope it works_. “You mean a lot to me, I’d never have gotten this far without you, and I’d probably still be a stoic hardass. I’d have never gotten Future Industries back. And if Jack had caught me I’d either be dead or wishing I was.” _The medicine should be kicking in by now._

“It is kicking in.” Kora answered. “I’m all Eridian now, I can hear your thoughts.”

“Oh,” Asami replied.

“Nothing’s happening.” Korra sighed. She stood up and headed out of the shelter.

“Korra! Wait!” Asami rushed after her, grabbing her arm. She searched her mind for some type of solution and was hard pressed to find any before Korra pulled her arm away and began to walk off again. _Dammit, Asami, think of something._ Her mind scanned over her workshop in Sanctuary, thinking of anything that could fix this. But all she had were the Eridium chips for her gloves, weapon parts, ammo, her sketchbook, schematics and blueprints.

Zed wasn’t a real doctor so plastic surgery was off the table. Tannis would rather run more tests on her than try to make her normal again. Scooter…. Scooter could only fix machines and cars. But he did get Sanctuary off the ground. Asami’s mind raced. She looked up to see how far Korra had gone. Turns out she stopped to stare at a grave then looked back at Asami.

“Fyrestone.” she said. Asami lifted an eyebrow. “The town is called Fyrestone. It got overrun by bandits. Then Helena Pierce allowed the old Vault Hunters and Dr. Zed to relocate from here to New Haven. Just a bit of info. The name of this place was on the tip of my tongue the whole time we were here. It was driving me crazy.” Korra’s tone suggested that she smiled. This was probably her awkward way of saying goodbye.

 _Helena Pierce_ Asami mused. _Pierce Station, the Fast Travel, the weird chest… That’s fucking it!_ “Korra!” Asami yelled after her. She darted after, her nearly colliding into her once she got close. “If I can fix it so that your face looks normal again, will you stay?”

“I don’t want you to draw my face on some paper and stretch it over the masks like Jack had his, Asami.” Korra sighed.

“Come with me to Sanctuary!” Asami pleaded.

“Moxxi would never let me live this down, Asami.” Korra shook her head.

“Then come with me to Liar's Berg.”

 

* * *

 

“So you’re really just gonna draw my face on some paper and stick it over my masks?” Korra sighed as she watched Asami pull out her sketch book. Korra leaned against a vending machine, coated with a layer of ice, with folded arms. Liar's Berg was your average run down Pandoran town, except with one gated house and covered in snow. It wasn't too far from Korra's frozen home and she only agreed to come so that if Asami's plan fell through it wouldn't be that far to go back home.

“No, something even better.” Asami sat down at a table near the walkway. To the Quick-change station. "That machine over there is gonna make this drawing your actual face."

"Say, what?" Korra moved behind behind Asami. The mechanic quickly sketched an impressively detailed and accurate drawing of Korra's face.

"It's like reconstructive surgery without the surgery." Asami explained. "It's even works with the New-U system. You can find blueprints for different types of head and facial structures and upload them into the machine from your ECHO. You can do the same with the color of your clothes."

"Wow, that's interesting." Korra rubbed her chin. "Do you use this thing?"

"If I did you'd never know. That's how good it is." Asami smirked. The cold air began to bite at the tips of her ears, turning them as red as her jacket. "You're gonna have to have short hair for now I'm freezing my ass off."

"You didn't answer my question, Asami." Korra said.

"I don't use this, Korra. I like to proudly display how much I don't look like my father." Asami answered beginning to tremble from the cold. She still wore her jacket with the sleeve missing. Korra 'smiled' at how much Asami cared. She undid her skag leather sash and draped it over the Sirens shoulders. "Thanks." Asami smiled as she continued to draw out the details on Korra face.

Korra peered over her shoulder to further inspect her drawing. "I didn't know you noticed those two scars on my face."

"You sleep until noon, Korra. I've had plenty of time to examine your face." Asami giggled.

"You've watched me sleep?" Korra snorted.

"I've liked for for a bit longer than I'd like to admit." Asami blushed. Korra could feel the corners of her mouth curl into a smile.

"Guess I have more to ask about than the Eridium after this then."

"So you're not going home then?" Asami asked, clearly enthused.

"I never really wanted to. I hate home, you know that. But I hate this even more." Korra gestured to her headdress. "If I'm gonna be like this I'd rather be alone. Or treated like a god by my village."

"This should do it, Korra. I'm certain." Asami smiled as she started on Korra's hair.

Korra peeked over Asami shoulders again, this time gently resting her hands on them. "Wow, my bangs, too?"

"Yes, your bangs too." Asami sighed a bit too dreamily. "Go away, before I mess something up. You're making me blush."

"Okay." Korra nodded. She turned and took a seat on the snow covered ground behind Asami's chair. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She locked her gazed on a patch of yellow snow in the distance. They sat in still silence as snow flurries fell from the sky. Korra dropped one of her hands from her knees and absently dragged her finger through the snow. She leaned her head against the back of Asami's chair and stared into the gray sky. "Asami?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Thank me after this works."

"I'm thanking you for trying."

"You're welcome, but you don't have to thank me for this, Korra."

"Yeah, but, I appreciate this you know? You could've just like left me behind or tossed me in a Vault. Or launched me to the moon with the rest of the Eternals. But you actually tried to fix this."

"Yeah. And I'm done." Asami rose to her feet and brushed the flakes of snow from her bare arm, jacket and sketchbook. "What do you think?"

Korra stood up and glanced over the drawing. Everything looked identical to her normal features, even the light scars on her right cheek. There were a few notes and formulas written on the sides of the page as well as a few smaller scale drawing of the sides and back of her head. "I look weird with short hair."

"I like it." Asami smiled.

"Will it grow?," Korra asked.

"Not sure, but I can design longer hair for you." Asami looked back at her drawing. "I'll enter this in the machine. I'll be back." Asami placed a hand on Korra's shoulder and dragged it away as she turned to walk towards the Quick-Change station. Korra took Asami's seat and folded her hands carefully on top of the table. She stared at her hands as her thumb tapped against the others knuckle. She tilted her head towards Asami watching as she approached the bright blue machine. She slipped the paper inside a slot on the side and waited with a hand on her hip. The display showed what looked like a model of the picture Asami drew. She took a peek back at Korra with a puzzled look as her eyes scanned over her. She met Korra's eyes with a smile and turned back to the machine.

She pressed a few buttons and turned some knobs before waving for Korra to come over. Korra could feel herself trembling with every step. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, or she thinks she did. She realized she wasn't really sure how breathing was happening. She crossed the bridge leading to the machine and stood next to Asami.

"Okay, put your hand here." Asami pointed to a hand symbol on the machine. Korra pressed her hand against it.

"Scanning complete." The machines dulcet female voice purred.

"Okay now select the head customization. And then pick 'korra.head'" Asami instructed.

"Very cleverly named." Korra chuckled as she navigated. She settled a hand over the file for her head customization and turned to Asami. "You're still awesome. Even if this doesn't work."

"Well press it and find out." Asami smirked. Korra nodded and tapped the file and selected confirm. Blue pixelated squares showered over Korra's face. Asami watched with intent as the masks disappeared, revealing brown hair, bangs swept to the side and those gorgeous blue eyes.

  
"Did it work?" Korra's lips moved naturally and her facial expression was correct. Korra blinked successfully a few times. The sides of her mouth curled a bit, same as they always have.

  
She crossed facial movement off of her mental checklist as she reached a hand towards Korra's face with a blank expression. Her skin was still soft like the mask. So she _was_ still under the mask just probably couldn't get it off. Asami was so busy analyzing she forgot to actually answer Korra's question.

Korra face sunk into Asami's hand before she pulled it away. "It didn't work did it?" Korra looked away, shaking her head.

"Korra, no. It--" Asami began.

"No Asami. It's alright. I- it's alright." Korra gritted her teeth.

"No, Korra, listen--"

"No, Asami, I'm done." Korra growled through clenched teeth. "Dammit!" She shouted as she drove her fist through the quick change machine.

"Korra, calm down, you're okay." Asami grabbed Korra's shoulder, she was met with probably the most furious face Korra had ever made. She checked that off her mental list.

Korra shook her head. "I-I'm sorry I just... I can't fucking believe this." Korra fumed.

Asami ran her hand through Korra's hair, hoping she'd catch on. She reached her other hand to Korra's opposite shoulder. "I can't either, actually." Asami replied flippantly.

"Well, Asami. I'm gonna miss you." Korra looked Asami in the eyes. Blue began to pool with tears. Another checkmark.

"No you won't." Asami smiled. She reached her other hand into Korra's hair and pulled her head onto her shoulder. Korra slowly wrapped her arms around Asami's waist.

"I need to go, it'll be much harder if I don't leave now." Korra released her hold on Asami's waist and straightened.

  
Asami grabbed Korra by her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Her lips were soft; check. Her mouth wasn't dry; check. Before Asami could fully allow herself to enjoy the kiss Korra pulled away.

"Asami...I-" Korra stammered.

"Korra, you're fine, it worked. And you're an idiot." Asami smiled.

Korra face lit up. "It did? Why didn't...." Korra trailed off as Asami curled her lips in a sarcastic smile. "...You were trying."

"I let you have your little angsty moment." Asami grinned. I was hoping you'd figure it out on your own."

Korra grabbed Asami by the waist and pulled her back into another kiss. "It feels real." Korra managed between kisses.

"It kind of is." Asami shrugged as she snaked her arms over Korra's shoulders before she pulled away. "So can we go somewhere warm now?"

"Wanna hit Moxxi's?" Korra beamed.

"Of course you'd want to go to Moxxi's." Asami sighed.

 

* * *

 

"Why are you embarrassing me in front of all these people?" Korra mumbled into her folded arms. She sat in the corner of the bar between Asami and the wall as Asami told the story of how they stopped her father. Lilith, Mordecai, Brick and the other Vault Hunters along with Tiny Tina all sat around the bar in celebration of killing Handsome Jack and his Warrior.

"You chose to come here. I had to embarrass you before you could embarrassed me." Asami purred as he placed a hand on Korra's elbow.

"Damn, Twiggles. You must've been ugly as hell to get all emo like that." Tiny chuckled as she took a gulp of juice.

"I was," Korra murmured. The bass of the bars usual music thumped in her chest.

"She wasn't, she's just vain as hell." Asami answered as she rubbed Korra's arm.

"I had Eridian masks for a face." Korra mumbled.

"You were still beautiful." Asami said. Korra replied with a loud grunt.

"Tell me about when you guys blew up Fyrestone again." Tiny bounced. "Tell, me, tell me, tell me, tell me."

"Maybe later, Tina. We don't want Twiggles any more upset than she is." Asami cooed.

"Twiggles!" Tina yelled in her deep voice. "Remember when I told you I like her? Now I _really_ like her."

"I'm just glad my favorite couple made it back in one piece." Moxxi poured them both a tall glass of apple juice.

"Give me some hard liquor, I wanna forget all this." Korra lifted her head from it's cradle and rested her chin on her crossed forearms.

"Drink your juice, dear." Asami slid Korra's glass toward her hand. Korra shot her a narrowed glare and began to gulp down the juice. "I don't think you'll want to forget tonight."

Korra froze mid swallow, as juice started raining from her nose. She quickly covered her face as she spun on her barstool and retreated from the table. Tina looked up at Asami as she smirked at Korra, attacking a napkin holder at a booth behind her. "Wrapped around your damn finger girl, high fiiiiive!" Tina held up an opened hand and Asami clapped hers against it. "Not many are able to tame the wild creature that is Bounty Hunter Korra."

Asami smiled as Korra clamped her chin over Asami's shoulder, still a bit sticky from the apple juice. "Eh, it's only cause she's hot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Happy endings! Thanks everyone for coming along for the ride. Especially everyone putting up with the every other day updates to damn near weekly And even that mini-haitus. Also that the freaking thanks to my awesome beta who is the bees knees and put up with some of my awful ideas lol. 
> 
> Also, since I love Korra and Asami in this universe so much and since I haven't finished Tales of the Borderlands yet, there may be a sequel and/or little chapters that I'll join to this in a series. No ETA on that as of now. 
> 
> But as always guys thanks for reading this. I'll always be lurking around to replying to comments and stuff so feel free to leave em. And yeah I suck at conclusions.


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